Stockholm Syndrome
by PeoplexLikexGrapes
Summary: Ever since the Faunus' defeat in the war, Blake Belladonna has been subjected to hate and abuse, and she is destined to spend the rest of her life as a slave, being tossed from human owner to human owner. However, this all changes when she has a new mistress, by the name of Yang Xiao Long. WARNING: Dark themes for mature audiences only. [CURRENTLY ON HIATUS]
1. First Impressions

**Trigger warning: Dark themes, including slavery, abuse, and racism. If you're sensitive to any of these themes, I would strongly recommend you read something else. Basically, read it at your own risk.**

**I was reading this novel, set at the time of the Slave Trade, and it involved a slave owner getting romantically involved with one of his female slaves, and yeah, that's basically what inspired to me to write this. And seeing how I love Bumblebee, I thought, 'why the heck not?' The book's called 'Sally Hemmings' by the way.**

**Most of my fics have been pretty lighthearted, so this is gonna be a change to my normal writing style, so bear with me.**

**A little bit of background: The Faunus lose the Human-Faunus war, because they were unsuccessful in breaking out of Menagerie, leading to the enslavement of Faunus as a punishment. Therefore, the White Fang doesn't exist.**

* * *

The van came to a sudden stop, and this woke Blake from her troubled sleep. The confined space she was in was completely dark, so she had no idea whether it was day or night, or how long she had been travelling. She heard the driver of the van open the driver door. Blake slowly lifted her back off the floor of the van, and smoothed out her clothes, not that they were that tidy anyway. She wore black trousers that were covered in dirt and a black shirt that had been ripped in several places. She had another pair of identical clothing in her small bag, but that pair was much worse off than the ones she was currently wearing.

The door of the van suddenly opened, and the first thing Blake saw was the cracked moon of Remnant in the night sky. That view was quickly forgotten as she got roughly yanked out of the van by the driver. Blake had to use lightning quick reflexes to avoid getting a face-full of gravel, as she put her hands out in front of her in time.

"Get up, stupid animal," growled the driver.

Blake wordlessly got up, knowing through experience it was costly if you didn't obey a human order.

The cat Faunus was shoved into the driveway of a house. She looked up to examine it. It wasn't overly large, but it still looked comfortable.

Not that Blake would ever feel that. She would probably be sent to sleep on the floor or something degrading like that, just like every other time.

She felt the driver barge past her, knocking her in the shoulder with his. She stumbled forwards and almost fell over, but she managed to keep her balance to avoid the humiliation. Although that feeling wouldn't have been new to Blake, considering she was a slave and all that.

The driver knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, there was clicks of locks and the door opened. In the entrance stood a tall girl, with long, and slightly messy, blonde hair, and lilac eyes.

Blake had been told nothing about her new slave owner, so this was all totally new for her, and she eyed the blonde up.

"Hey Yang, here's the filth you asked for," said the driver.

"Thanks Cardin," said Blake's owner, now known as Yang.

Her answer was pretty blunt, Blake noticed, and when Cardin had called her 'filth', she noticed that Yang had bristled slightly.

But of course, Blake had probably just imagined it. Why would anyone feel sorry for a worthless Faunus such as herself?

"I don't know why you wanted this one, she can hardly-"

"Whatever Cardin," said Yang bluntly. "Are you done?"

The tall man shrugged his shoulders, unfazed. "Yeah, whatever."

And with that he walked away, not before barging past Blake again, who was too slow to get out of Cardin's way.

"Disgusting…"

Blake swore she could have heard her new owner saying that, but she attributed it to wishful thinking.

"Follow me."

Blake obeyed the blonde immediately, not wishing to be punished. She stepped inside the house, and found that the door led directly into the kitchen. It was a rather small space, but Blake didn't pay much attention to it, and she continued to follow Yang through another door. Right in front of her was the living room by the looks of it, and to her right, there was a staircase.

Yang started up the staircase, before looking behind herself to check if Blake was still following. Satisfied that she was, the blonde turned back round.

They made it up the stairs, before Yang came to a stop at the second door on the left.

"Well, this is where you're gonna sleep," declared Yang cheerfully.

Blake was surprised. Her own room? It was upstairs too, not in a basement.

"-gonna come in Blake?"

The cat Faunus was snapped out of her daze, and she hastily stepped inside, ignoring the strange look that Yang gave her. The blonde had actually called her by her name as well, which surprised her, as her previous owners had referred to her as 'You' or 'Animal'.

Amber eyes examined the room that she was going to be residing in. She was even more surprised than she was to find that the floor had a carpet, and there was actually a bed too. There was also a wardrobe, although Blake had no idea how she would fill it. There was a small desk, in the corner of the room, and right in front of it was a window, which currently had the curtains drawn.

All in all, Blake was in awe. She turned to Yang, forgetting about speaking when not spoken too, and uttered her first words since coming.

"Are you sure this is the right room?"

Yang made a snorting noise. "Yeah, of course I'm sure, why?"

A lack of a rebuke probably meant it was safe to reply.

"I just… Shouldn't I be sleeping on the floor of a basement or something?"

"Why, do you want to?" asked the blonde with an amused grin.

"Well, no, it's just that's where all my other masters made me sleep…"

Blake saw the grin wiped off Yang's face. She wondered if she had done anything wrong, and instinctively started backing off slightly.

"Well, you're sleeping in here while you stay with me," said the blonde, seriously. Then a smile came over her face. "So yeah, make yourself comfortable, and get some rest!"

Blake nodded, unable to return the smile, but she was grateful at her owner's kindness.

Then, another thought struck her. Maybe it was just a ruse though, and Yang was just trying to lull her into a sense of security. But from their interaction so far, Yang didn't seem like a person capable of doing such a thing. Then again, Blake knew by now that nothing was what it seems, in this twisted world.

"Aren't you afraid I'll dirty your room?" asked Blake.

Yang's smile turned into a frown. "Not really, it is your room after all."

'It's not really my room though, it belongs to you,' thought Blake to herself.

"But if you're really that bothered, the shower is in the bathroom to the right of you."

A shower? This night was just full of surprises for Blake. She hadn't had a shower for God knows how long.

"Please don't be reserved about using it either," added Yang. Then, another grin spread on her face. "But make sure you get in there before Ruby, she takes _forever _in the shower."

Blake nodded again, and she allowed herself a tiny smile.

"Oh yeah, Ruby's my sister, well half-sister, by the way," said Yang with a smile. She then started to turn towards the door. "Make yourself comfortable!"

"Thank you mistress," said Blake, saying it rather than the blonde's actual name out of habit.

The smile was again wiped off Yang's face, and Blake was scared she had done something wrong. Once again, she braced herself for whatever abuse was about to be hurled her way.

Instead, she heard Yang say softly: "Please, call me Yang…"

And with that, the blonde walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Blake sat down on the bed with a sigh. It had been a long time since she had slept in one these. She lied down on the soft, comfy material, and fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

_"Come on you dumb animal!"_

_Blake had to hold back tears as verbal abuse was hurled at her._

_The humans were forcing all of the Faunus into one small city called Menagerie. Blake had been separated from her parents, and now she was being pushed and shoved forward, while having abuse shouted at her from all around her. Blake was only nine years old at the time, and she had never felt so alone before…_

_"Pathetic!"_

_Blake cried out as she was shoved to the ground. She scraped her bare knee against the tarmac. The pain was almost unbearable. To further add to her suffering, she felt a rock hit her shoulder, and another scraped past her arm._

_Blake didn't understand why. She was a little kid. Why were they hurting a little kid? You weren't meant to hurt children. So why were these people hurting her? A third rock hit her in the side and ripped a hole in her shirt. Blake cried out in pain once again as she felt blood trickle out of the hole in her shirt._

_Suddenly, she sensed someone's presence over her, and she braced herself for the worst. However, she didn't feel any pain, and she looked up. In front of her, there was a Faunus boy, similar to her age. He sported two horns on his head, and had crimson red hair._

_"Are you okay?"_

_Blake shook her head, with tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. "W-why are they doing this?"_

_"Because they're very mean people, and they seem to hate all the Faunus…" said the horned Faunus. "My name's Adam by the way."_

_He held out his hand to Blake, with the cat Faunus gratefully taking the arm as she was pulled up. "My name's Blake."_

_"That's a nice name," said Adam, smiling in an attempt to reassure Blake._

_Blake smiled back, but it was quickly wiped off her face as the abuse started to come again. Badly thrown stones whizzed past them. Soon, another one hit Blake, and she saw Adam look round at the thrower angrily. He stormed off to confront the human, and threw a punch, but a nine year old against a grown man was going to be a one-sided fight._

_Blake almost screamed as Adam was picked up by his neck, and flung against the floor. Several more humans converged on the young Faunus. Blake had seen enough, and she took the opportunity to run. And she ran, and ran, and ran, until she was far into the city._

_But she would never forget Adam, and what he did to stick up for her. She wouldn't forget… Ever._

* * *

Blake slowly rose from her slumber the next morning, before glancing at the clock.

It read eight o'clock.

Blake shot up, realising that she had slept for way too long. She jumped out of the bed, and rushed to the door, and was about to open it, but then she found it opened from the other side, and she was met with the sight of her owner, still dressed in pajamas.

"Ah Blake, you're awake, good morning!" said the busty blonde cheerfully.

Blake was sure that Yang would be absolutely furious with her for sleeping in, but it obviously didn't seem the case. There was no hidden hostility behind Yang's greeting, so Blake assumed she was safe from a beating. But it didn't make sense. With Cardin, if she had got up past six o'clock, he would have beaten her. Still, Blake thought it would be polite to apologise.

"Sorry for oversleeping, I'll get to work straight away," said Blake, not meeting Yang in the eye. "What would you like me to do?"

"Well firstly," began Yang with a frown. "I'd like you to calm down, and secondly, I'd like you to come down and join me for breakfast."

Blake stared at Yang in disbelief.

Yang frowned. "What?"

"Why are you inviting me to eat with you? If it were any of my other owners, I wouldn't even get breakfast half the time, let alone eating it with them."

"Well, I'm not like your other owners," said Yang, frown deepening.

"But you're all humans!" said Blake, unable to stop her outburst. "You're meant to despise us and treat us like shit."

Yang was clearly taken aback, but she still responded quickly.

"Yeah, a lot of humans are prejudiced and racist, and I think it's disgusting," said Yang. "I've done a lot to make sure you're comfortable, and I don't see why you think that I'm against you after all that!" she added exasperatedly.

"What, you think being nice to me will make me think that not all humans are bad?" asked Blake. "Do you think being nice to some Faunus slave girl will honestly make you the best person in the world? I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen. I'm a slave, so treat me like a damn slave!"

There was a tense silence following Blake's outburst, and it was only then that Blake realised that she had messed up. Big time. She looked at Yang, but the blonde seemed to be shocked rather than angry. Nonetheless, Blake started to back off, fearing that the blonde would finally lash out at her. However, there was no contact, and Yang just stood there for a while longer, before finally speaking up.

"Fine, if you don't want to eat breakfast downstairs, I'll bring it up to your bedroom instead."

And with that, the blonde went down the stairs, and left Blake standing outside her room. Blake felt a twinge of guilt for her outburst, especially as it seemed to hurt Yang (emotionally) more than it hurt Blake (physically). Then again, after years of being a slave, Blake had adopted a cynical nature, and no-one could blame her for that.

With a sigh, she turned and walked back towards her own room, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Several minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Blake looked up from her bed, and was surprised that Yang didn't just come barging in.

"Come in," said Blake, a little shakily.

The door opened and Yang entered the room with a tray, and on it there was a plate with baked beans and toast, and a glass of orange juice. She set it down on Blake's bed, and gave her a smile, although it seemed a little forced.

The Faunus expected Yang to try and make conversation, but the blonde simply turned around and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Once again, Blake felt a twinge of guilt, even though she really had no reason to. Had Yang really expected that being nice to her would fix everything? It was a nice thought, but it had no chance of working.

But even though Blake hadn't exactly been friendly, Yang still hadn't hit her, or said anything mean or derogatory towards her. Even after Blake's outburst, Yang had still taken the time to bring up breakfast to Blake, which was a job Blake should have done for Yang.

Blake appreciated Yang's intentions, they were seemingly good intentions, and she concluded that surely if Yang was making the effort, Blake could try and be a little friendlier. Perhaps Blake didn't trust Yang just yet, but she had to admit she would much rather serve Yang than Cardin or the other jerks she had served in the past. But she hoped she wouldn't get too attached to Yang, not that she expected she would anyway. In the end, Human and Faunus could never be friends, despite what Yang may think. Blake thought that she sounded pretty cynical, but after living the life that she had, she also thought that she sounded correct.

The smell of food slowly wafted into Blake's nostrils, and that reminded her of the breakfast that had been set for her. All cynical thoughts forgotten, Blake tucked into her food hungrily, and demolished it in several minutes, finishing by downing the orange juice. It had been ages since she'd had food like that. Blake remained in bliss for several more minutes, before realising she should probably take the tray back downstairs. It was already nine o'clock and she still hadn't done anything yet. She should have been happy, but it was actually quite unsettling because she didn't have anything to do.

Blake carried the tray downstairs and remembering where the kitchen was, turned left at the bottom of the stairs, and entered the kitchen.

Yang was sat down at the table eating exactly what Blake had eaten. The blonde was also talking to her sister Ruby, who seemed ready to go to school. Ruby was the first to notice Blake, and Yang followed her sister's gaze towards the Faunus.

"How was breakfast?" asked Yang with a smile, standing up to take the tray.

"It was very nice thank you," said Blake returning the smile, but she rejected Yang's offer to take the tray.

She walked over to the sink, and set the tray down, before running some hot water into the basin in the sink.

"The washing liquid is in the cupboard on the left," said Yang helpfully.

Blake opened the cupboard door and took the washing liquid and poured some in the basin, before grabbing a washcloth and dumping her plate, glass and cutlery into the basin. Blake washed them all with practiced ease. It was almost second nature to her by now. Soon she finished off, and left the washcloth in the basin, and she was about to reach for a tea-towel to dry her plate, but a pair of hands beat hers to it.

"Here, let me help," said Yang with a smile.

'I'm supposed to be the one doing all of your work for you,' thought Blake. But she didn't voice her cynical thoughts, for fear of annoying Yang again.

So instead, Blake smiled in thanks to Yang, and handed her the plate.

Soon, when they'd dried everything and emptied the basin, Ruby declared that she had to go to school.

She had been silent since Blake had walked in, and the Faunus wondered whether it was just because Ruby was shy, or if she was judging her.

"Okay Ruby, have a great first day!" said Yang cheerfully, giving her little sister a hug.

Ruby returned the hug and stood at the front door.

"Bye Blake."

Blake was caught off-guard, but she managed to wave back at Ruby with a smile. Ruby gave a shy wave back, before walking out of the door.

Normally Blake wouldn't have attempted conversation with her owner, but she thought it would be safe with Yang.

"Ruby looks a bit too old to be starting middle school," said Blake, as she thought that Ruby looked at least thirteen or fourteen.

Yang sighed, and Blake tensed.

"It's a long story… I'd rather not talk about it if that's alright," replied Yang quietly.

"Of course," said Blake. "Sorry to have brought it up…"

"It's alright, you didn't know," said Yang, forcing a smile onto her face. "But I have to get to my job now; I'll be back at around five o'clock."

She grabbed her jacket and walked towards the door, before looking over her shoulder at Blake.

"Ruby will be back at around four, so just put out a plate of cookies for her just before she comes home, they're in the pantry," said Yang with a grin. "She loves cookies," she added with a small laugh.

Blake nodded. "Anything else I need to do while you're gone?"

"Well, my room does need cleaning," said Yang, after thinking for a bit. "It shouldn't be too difficult for you. The cleaning supplies are in the same cupboard as the washing liquid."

"Okay," said Blake, bowing out of instinct.

Yang frowned. "Blake, despite what you may think, you don't have to treat me as your mistress. Even though that's technically what I am, I don't like the sound of it. All I really need is for someone to look over the house while Ruby and I are out. So I know it's out of habit more than anything, but please, just try to lighten up…"

Blake didn't respond with anything other than a nod, as she was still processing what Yang had said.

"Oh yeah, eat what you want for lunch, within reason of course," said Yang, and with that, the blonde stepped out of the door and locked it.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Blake had gotten all the cleaning materials she needed, and she headed up to where she presumed Yang's room was. It was the first door on the right of the staircase. Blake pushed open the door, and was surprised to find that Yang's room was in a similar layout to hers. Of course, Yang's room was much more decorated, with posters of a boy band called 'The Achieve Men'. There were also several framed pictures on the windowsill, the desk, and the bed-table. Most of them were Yang and Ruby, but one picture caught her eye. Yang and Ruby were present, but she saw two other people in the photo. One of them was a tall woman, with flowing dark hair, and a white cloak noticeably placed on her back. The other was a buff man with tousled blonde hair.

Blake realised that they must have been Yang and Ruby's parents. Yang hadn't mentioned her parents at all since Blake had been in the house, and Blake began to wonder if there was a reason why. The woman in the photo looked a lot like Ruby, but nothing like Yang. Then it struck Blake.

Yang had said that she and Ruby were _half_-sisters. The woman in the picture was Ruby's mother. Yang's mother obviously wasn't present.

Blake hadn't seen any evidence of a parental figure within the sister's house. Blake also remembered that Yang had said it was complicated when Blake asked her about Ruby. Although there was no obvious link between the two, Blake thought that the two things could be connected somehow.

It was then that Blake realised she was too interested in Yang's private affairs, and she was basically snooping, which was not what she was intending to do. She quickly straightened up and grabbed some cleaning materials, and got to work.

_It looked like Blake wasn't the only person who'd had a difficult childhood._

* * *

**And there we go; the end of the chapter! Slightly depressing I know, sorry…**

**Anyways, a bit of background, Ruby is thirteen, Yang is eighteen, and Blake is seventeen. There is obviously a bit of a complicated plot line behind Ruby and Yang's history, and that will be covered in the next chapter, which will be from Yang's perspective.**

**Anyways, post a review telling me what you think of the story so far, any constructive criticism is helpful!**

**Until next time,**

**-PLG**


	2. A Troubled Past

**PLG back, here with another chapter.**

**I'd just like to thank everyone for the support that they have given me so far, your kind comments and constructive criticisms are very much appreciated. I'm glad people are liking the story!**

**Anyways, this chapter will be from the point of view of Yang, and there will be a rather large insight to Yang and Ruby's past.**

**Anyways, enough of my rambling, enjoy!**

* * *

"Alright Jaune, Pyrrha, see you later!" called Yang over her shoulder as she exited the coffee shop she was working at. It was owned by a blonde boy named Jaune, and his red haired girlfriend Pyrrha.

She walked down the sidewalk, past several shops, and turned left onto the street where her house was situated.

Despite her best efforts, Yang just couldn't get Blake out of her head. She had been completely shocked by the Faunus' outburst earlier. She had not been angered by it however, as Blake's exclamation was still completely justified.

Yang herself wasn't really sure about her intentions. She had hired a slave because now that both she and Ruby were out of the house for quite a bit, she needed someone to look after it and keep it clean. And when she heard that Cardin was selling a slave, she decided to buy Blake.

What Blake had said about Yang not changing anything just because she was being nice to her was completely justified, but in truth, that just wasn't the case. Yang wasn't trying to persuade Blake that not all of humanity was that bad. She knew that humanity was messed up, and it would literally be impossible to improve the Faunus' social standing, especially alone.

But what Yang wanted to do really was to feel like she was doing a good thing. By treating one Faunus with respect, she was already doing what many others had failed to do. Sure it wasn't much, and Blake probably wouldn't appreciate the sentiment anyway, giving her cynical nature, but this gave Yang some sort of satisfaction. The blonde completely understood how Blake was feeling at the moment though, and she was angered at just how messed up someone's life could be all thanks to her fellow humans. But she was not surprised. Blake must have been through tough, no, hellish times, and Yang couldn't even imagine what it would feel like.

Well, actually, she would have an idea of what psychological pain felt like...

When Summer had died, Yang was depressed, and would find herself moping around a lot, but Ruby had taken it even worse. The girl, only eight years old at the time, had locked herself in her room, never coming out despite how much Yang pleaded. This went on for several days, with Ruby having eaten nothing throughout those days, until Yang eventually lost her patience, and she had smashed down Ruby's door with strength that she didn't even know she possessed.

Ruby was still in tears, which had soaked her bed sheets, and she looked pale… Weak… Vulnerable…

From that day on, Yang would start to act as Ruby's mother, making sure that she ate and drank enough, that she would be showering and keeping hygienic. Whenever Ruby woke up screaming in the middle of the night, Yang would be there to immediately comfort her younger sister. She would stay with Ruby for as long as she needed, and then she would snuggle up close to her sister, making sure she was safe, and nothing could hurt her. After Ruby's nightmares grew fewer, she began to act like the optimistic and bright child that she'd once been. However, Yang could always see the occasional forced smile, and she knew that Ruby would never be quite the same again.

Neither was their father, and Yang had soon found out why. Summer Rose was the second love that he'd lost. Yang's mother had been the first. After that, Yang felt like just completely breaking down. She had no idea that Summer hadn't been her real mother. But she couldn't. With no parental figure, Yang knew that she'd be responsible for Ruby now, and she had to keep her sister safe and happy at all costs.

Their father was put in a mental asylum not long after, when Yang was only fifteen. Ruby got depressed again, and Yang felt as if she couldn't cope at all.

She was still in her mid-teen years, and she'd already had the responsibility of taking care of a child thrust upon her. Yang had to leave school to start up a job as soon as she turned sixteen. The local council paid for most of their bills, but Yang still had to start work, at Jaune and Pyrrha's coffee shop, in order to afford food and luxuries for Ruby and herself.

She was ever grateful for Jaune and Pyrrha, as they supported her during tough times, and even helped look after Ruby at times when Yang couldn't. She doubted she would have been able to make it through without their friendship, especially when she found out that Ruby had started to self-harm.

This had shocked Yang beyond belief, and self-harm was rather frowned upon in society. The fact that Ruby was only eleven only served to further horrify Yang. However, she would never say anything bad about her sister, and she would support her sister no matter what happened.

Pyrrha had been ever so kind, and she had asked her father, a well-known therapist in Vale, to help, and her father had been kind enough to do it all for free. It seemed to work wonders, as within six months, Ruby was back to her normal self, well, almost, and Yang decided that Ruby was fit enough to start school the following term.

However, in her efforts to make Ruby happy, Yang had often neglected her own feelings, and this meant that a lot of her nights were restless. But whenever she was around others, Yang always put on a happy and cheerful front; spreading happiness to everyone she talked to.

Yang had contemplated self-harm herself, and, although she'd never tell anyone, had even considered suicide once. But that was the selfish way out, and Yang was not a selfish person. She would never do anything that would hurt Ruby or put her in danger, so Yang continued to put of the warm, vibrant front, masking her own pain behind it well. And she was still doing so up until this day. The pain had lessened slightly, but Yang doubted that it would ever be forgotten.

So, the torture that Blake had been through was still leagues above this, but Yang had suffered something, although technically not as serious as slavery, that was still just as psychologically damaging.

Shaken out of her thoughts, Yang realised that she was in front of the house, and she turned into the driveway, unlocked the front door, and walked inside.

On the kitchen desk, there lay an empty plate of cookies, and Yang smiled. She heard the television blaring, and she immediately recognised the theme tune to the silly cartoon show 'X-Ray and Vav'. The two voice actors for the main characters of the show were incidentally two members of 'The Achieve Men'.

She made her way into the living room, and saw Ruby and Blake sat on the sofa.

"Shouldn't you be working Blake?"

The Faunus shot round, shock clearly evident on her face. She stood up quickly and looked at Yang, before bowing slightly.

"I'm sorry mistress!" said Blake hurriedly. "What are your orders?"

Yang was torn between amusement and exasperation. She was amused as she had clearly managed to unsettle Blake, but exasperated because she was still referring to Yang as mistress.

"Well, your first order is to stop calling me mistress, and to call me Yang," said Yang with a grin.

Blake clearly hadn't been expecting that by the shock on her face. Yang sighed internally. When would Blake realise that not everyone was out to get her?

"Yes, of course, s-sorry Yang," said Blake meekly, not meeting Yang's eyes.

Yang had to exert a great amount of self-control to not laugh. Blake's stutter was absolutely adorable!

"And secondly," continued Yang. "Just relax."

"Pardon?" Again, that same shocked expression.

"Just relax," repeated Yang with a shrug and a smile. "Just keep watching TV with Ruby; you seemed to be enjoying yourself."

The blonde eyed Blake up, and she could tell that the Faunus was going to make some remark about how Yang should have ordered her to actually do something productive. But instead, Blake kept her mouth shut, and nodded her head. Yang watched as she proceeded to sit down back on the sofa next to Ruby.

Satisfied, Yang vaulted over the sofa onto the other side of Blake, and, ignoring the almost comical look on her face, quickly got absorbed in the silly tales of two hapless idiots trying to stop a villain with an awfully bad pirate accent.

Yang was able to forget about all hardships that had occurred in her life, all thanks to a cartoon. It was the simple things that were actually the most important.

Soon, the show had finished, and Yang looked past Blake at Ruby, and found that her little sister had fallen asleep. Yang smiled as she looked at the adorable expression on Ruby's face. Ruby looked so peaceful when she was asleep.

It brought back memories of when Ruby had a bad dream, and Yang would have soothed Ruby until she slowly succumbed to sleep, and Ruby would always have that same peaceful expression.

* * *

_Yang rushed into Ruby's room when she heard screams. Her heart twisted when she saw Ruby thrashing about, gripping the bed sheets tightly._ _Her brown hair was plastered to her face, sweat and tears running down her face, and her facial expression was contorted, like she was in pain. _

_"Oh Ruby…" said Yang, as she fought back tears herself. _

_She quickly swept up beside Ruby in her bed, and held her sister close. _

_"It's okay Ruby, big sister Yang is here… It was just a dream… It's over now…" Yang cooed in Ruby's ear._

_The thrashing gradually got less and less, until all that Yang could hear were whimpers. _

_"It was horrible… There was-"_

_"Don't talk about it Rubes… You're safe now, and that's what matters…"_

_Ruby's voice had been hoarse and so full of terror; Yang felt a single tear running down her cheek._

_Ruby nodded, and buried her face underneath Yang's chin. Yang smiled sadly as she felt her sister's tiny breaths against her throat._

_"Do you want me to stay with you?" asked Yang, although she already knew the answer._

_"Yes please…" Ruby's voice was slightly muffled by Yang's shoulder._

_"I'll protect you Ruby, and nothing is ever going hurt you while I'm here."_

_The siblings stayed in comfortable silence. Yang felt Ruby's grip relax slightly, and she knew that her younger sister was about to fall back asleep._

_"I love you Yang…"said Ruby quietly._

_Yang smiled as she watched Ruby close her eyes. A peaceful expression appeared on Ruby's face, and it was an expression free of worry._

_"I love you too Ruby, sleep well," said Yang softly, giving her sister a loving kiss on the forehead._

_Soon enough, Yang also found her eyelids drooping, and she eventually fell into a comfortable slumber too._

* * *

Yang was snapped out of her thoughts, and looked away from Ruby. Then she looked at Blake and smiled.

"Doesn't she look adorable?" Yang asked with a smile.

"She does…" said Blake, looking at Ruby.

"It means that she's not having any bad dreams…" said Yang. "Which is a good thing of course…"

She saw that Blake looked a little confused, so she decided to explain just a little bit of the truth, but she covered a lot of stuff up.

"Basically… when Ruby was little, she used to have nightmares a lot… I had to comfort her quite a lot," said Yang, as Blake nodded. "Whenever I got her to calm down, she would fall asleep with that expression on her face… I knew that she was safe at that point, so that always brought some comfort to me…"

Blake nodded again, and Yang glanced at the clock.

"Well, I think we should start getting dinner ready," said Yang, brightening up slightly. "If you really want something to do, you could cook for us," she added.

Blake nodded. "Of course."

"But not because I expect that because you're a slave!" said Yang hurriedly. "It's just because you'd probably be a lot better at cooking than I am!"

_Smooth Yang, real smooth…_

Yang was pleasantly surprised to see a grin appear on Blake's face. It was the first time that the Faunus had done that since she had arrived. It wasn't just one of those polite smiles, it was a smile that carried warmth, although how much warmth could be left to debate.

But it was a start, and Yang hoped the first of many.

"It's fine Yang, I wouldn't mind cooking. What ingredients am I working with exactly?"

Yang racked her brain. "Well, there's some meat and vegetables, so you could make some sort of stew perhaps?"

"Easy enough," said Blake with a smirk, which was another expression that Yang had only seen on her face for the first time.

"Great!" said Yang cheerfully. Blake was finally beginning to open up. Maybe they would never get to the level of friends, but if Blake was starting to be more open and friendly, Yang could totally live with that.

* * *

Half an hour later, Blake called from the kitchen that dinner was ready, and Yang shook Ruby awake.

"Hey Rubes, Blake's made dinner, come on," said Yang with a smile.

Ruby smiled back and nodded. "Oh, okay!"

Yang turned away and walked towards the kitchen, looking behind her to make sure Ruby hadn't fallen back asleep.

Suddenly, she felt something whiz past her, and she grinned when she realised that Ruby had raced ahead of her, and was sitting eagerly at the table.

"Someone's keen," teased Yang as she took her place at the table next to Ruby.

"Hungry." Came the reply.

"Even after all those cookies?" asked Yang with a grin.

"Well, I did share half of them with Blake," said Ruby with a laugh.

Yang laughed and glanced over at Blake, who'd worn a guilty half-grin on her face.

Yang got up and moved to one of the cupboards, and fetched three plates, and set them down on the table. Ruby had decided to help, and the brunette grabbed three pairs of knives and forks to set down on the table.

The two sisters sat back down afterwards, and eyed up the bowl of stew that Blake was now bringing to the table.

"Smells lovely," said Yang, smiling at Blake.

"I bet it will taste lovely too!" said Ruby adorably.

"Thanks," said Blake quietly with a shy smile.

The Faunus scooped servings on both Ruby and Yang's place, before bowing.

"Enjoy the meal," she said with a small smile.

Yang frowned and grabbed Blake's arm gently as she prepared to leave.

"Eat with us Blake, we didn't set out three plates for nothing you know."

Yang saw Blake hesitate for a moment.

"Hey Blake, you made the food, so you deserve to eat it," said Yang with a smile.

Ruby had already started eating, and with her mouth full, she said, "Ish really goos!"

"S-sorry, of course I'll eat with you… I'm just not used to it is all," said Blake awkwardly as she sat down at the table.

"Well you're gonna have to get used to it, you're gonna eat with us every day now," said Yang with a smile.

"Thank you," said Blake, with what seemed like a genuine smile.

Yang focused on her food, and shoveled a mouthful into her mouth. Ruby was right, this was good.

"Mmm, it's delicioush," said Yang with a grin, shoveling another forkful of meat into her mouth.

Blake smiled modestly. "Thanks."

Most of the meal was eaten in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. There was the occasional burp from Ruby, but that was about it.

Yang looked at Blake and saw that the Faunus was consuming her food rather rapidly. This was probably the first proper meal she'd had in ages… Yang felt a pang of sympathy, and looked concernedly when Blake almost choked on her food.

"You alright?" asked Yang as she reached over to pat Blake on the back.

The Faunus nodded at Yang, with a barely noticeable blush on her cheeks. It was so faint and brief; Yang thought that she probably just imagined it.

With a satisfied smile, Yang moved back to her own seat, and finished off the last of her food.

"Does anyone want seconds?" asked the blonde, looking round the table at Ruby and Blake.

"Yes please!" chirped Ruby.

"Blake?" Yang smiled at the Faunus.

Although it was a question, Yang still knew that she wanted Blake to eat more, so it was a bit of a pointless question really. She could see Blake considering it for a moment, and Yang was worried that she was going to have to force Blake to eat more. To her surprise, Blake replied in the affirmative.

"Yes please."

Yang almost beamed as she grabbed the big spoon and put a generous helping on Blake's plate, before doing the same for herself and Ruby.

There was another comfortable silence as the three girls ate. Yang couldn't really tell what Blake was thinking, but she hoped that the girl was slowly opening up more, and would be more comfortable to behave normally around Ruby and Yang. Blake had shown it more this afternoon, but the lack of communication during dinner showed that there perhaps some reservations from both parties. But it was definitely a start.

* * *

After dinner, Blake did the dishes, and Ruby had headed upstairs to get ready for bed.

"Are you okay to manage on your own?" Yang asked Blake.

"I'll be fine," said the Faunus with a nod.

Yang smiled and headed upstairs, and knocked on Ruby's door.

"You all ready for bed yet Rubes?" asked Yang.

"Yup!" came the reply.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure!"

Yang opened the door and peered into the room. Ruby was in her pajamas, and was about to go under the covers of her bed.

"What do you need?" asked Ruby with a smile.

"I need… a hug!" said Yang, holding out her arms in front of her.

"Huggles!" said Ruby in delight, and got out of bed and jumped into Yang's arms.

Yang smiled into the embrace, as Ruby rested her face in Yang's shoulder.

"What's brought this on them?" asked Ruby, taking her face from Yang's shoulder. "You've not done anything bad have you?" She added with a giggle.

"Nope," replied Yang with a laugh. "I guess I just wanna show you how much I love you." The blonde poked Ruby on the nose.

"Awww, I love you too Yang!" said Ruby. "But I already know how much you love me!"

"I guess," said Yang with a smile. "But we've just been through so much stuff together, and we both made it out in one piece because we stuck together. And I'm also proud that you got through your first day of middle school! I don't know what I'd do without you Ruby… You're the best lil sis ever…" Yang got quieter as she got nearer the end of her small speech.

If you could describe happiness in two (three) words, 'Ruby's face' would have fit the bill perfectly right now.

"And you're the best big sis ever!" chirped Ruby. "You were always there for me when I was feeling down, scared and depressed!"

The sisters stayed in their happy little embrace for several more minutes before Ruby let out a cute little yawn.

"You should get to bed now," said Yang, picking Ruby up and gently letting her down on the bed.

Ruby snuggled up under the covers and looked up at Yang. "Goodnight!"

"Night Ruby, sweet dreams," said Yang softly, and she turned to walk out of the door, looking back at Ruby one more time fondly, before exiting the room.

* * *

Blake had quickly rushed to her room as she saw Yang turning around. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop on the sister's heart-warming exchange of words, but Blake couldn't help but smile and listen in to the encounter.

The two sisters seemed to have an unbreakable bond, and it truly warmed Blake's heart. Before she had met Ruby and Yang, she thought that it would not be possible to have a good human. However, she'd only known these two for a day, and she had already decided that these were two exceptions, and that they were two of the best people she could possibly have met.

She hadn't deserved to be this lucky to have met, even though she was technically a slave, two kind and caring humans, but she was definitely grateful for it.

There was still a smile on Blake's face as she slowly drifted off to sleep, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Blake fell into a peaceful sleep, free of the nightmares which had plagued her sleep for so long…

* * *

_"Ruby, I got some cookie dough ice cream!" called Yang from downstairs. _

_She was sure Ruby would come bolting down the stairs. But Ruby didn't come. Yang waited another twenty seconds, for at least an answer. But still, nothing from Ruby. _

_Yang frowned. It was true; Ruby had been feeling a little bit down lately, but Yang had just attributed it to Ruby beginning her pre-adolescent phase. _

_Still, she thought that ice cream would be enough to cheer Ruby up._

_Yang's brows furrowed in confusion as she made her way up the stairs to Ruby's room._

_"Ruby?" asked Yang, knocking on the door. "You alright? I mentioned ice cream and you didn't even say anything…"_

_Still, no answer came. Yang was starting to get a little bit annoyed. _

_"Don't make me bust down your door again Ruby!"_

_"It's open…"_

_Yang was shocked by the tone of Ruby's voice. It sounded sick. Something was definitely wrong…_

_Yang opened the doors, and she had to hold back a scream at the sight in front of her._

_Ruby was lying on the bed, with a pair of razors lying on the bed beside her arms. Along Ruby's arms were cuts, which had seemed recently inflicted. Yang couldn't disguise the horror in her eyes, and Ruby noticed this._

_"You probably think I'm pathetic, don't you?"_

_Immediately, Yang's caring nature kicked in, and in an instant, she was by Ruby's side._

_"Of course not Ruby!"_

_"But there are Faunus being beaten and killed, and here I am crying just because I think that my life is difficult."_

_"But it is Ruby," soothed Yang. "This should have never have happened to you, you never deserved this. It's perfectly understandable to react as you have done…"_

_Ruby didn't say anything, but she nodded shakily._

_"Just for the record, I'll never judge you just because of this," said Yang, looking into her sister's silver eyes. "You are so strong and brave to have gone through all of this. I'll never think anything bad of you Ruby… But please, if you have anything bothering you, please tell me, rather than resorting to…" Yang nodded down at the razors. "…This."_

_Ruby burst into tears and Yang pulled her into a hug._

_"Thank you, thank you," Ruby was muttering. "Thank you so much Yang… I don't know how I would have gotten through all this if it wasn't for you…"_

_"Hey, it's okay Ruby," said Yang soothingly, rubbing Ruby's back. "Just let it all out…"_

_And that was what Ruby did. And Yang stayed with her all night until the brunette had finally calmed down._

_And although it took many months of suffering and healing, everything was finally okay again…_

* * *

**So yeah, sorry for the lack of slave stuff in this chapter, but this chapter is mainly just to give people a better understanding on Yang and Ruby's backstory. The next chapter will be from Blake's perspective, and you'll finally start to see tiny ****minuscule hints of bumblebee!**

**Until next time,**

**-PLG**


	3. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad

**PLG back with another chapter! I never expected that this story would be so popular, and I'm grateful for all the support that you guys have given me!**

**Without further ado, chapter 3 ladies and gentlemen!**

* * *

After breakfast one day, Blake was lying on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. It was quiet, and there wasn't necessarily anything interesting on the ceiling, but she found the silence comforting. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Blake?"

Blake recognised the voice as Yang's.

"Yes?"

"Is it alright for me to come in?"

"Of course," said Blake, and the door opened, revealing the blonde in her work attire.

"Hey Blake, I'm going off to the coffee shop soon," said Yang. "But the thing is, Jaune and Pyrrha have said that they're gonna need an extra hand there today."

"So you want me to come with you to be that 'extra hand'?" asked Blake.

"Uhh, basically, yeah," said Yang. "That was pretty insightful of you," she added with a grin.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Blake, her attempt at a light-hearted reply failing miserably.

"Anyways, we set off in like, an hour," said Yang. "I have a spare uniform that should fit you."

Blake was surprised that Yang hadn't even asked if Blake wanted to help out or not, but then again, she could hardly disobey orders anyway. But still, she thought that Yang would have asked her, giving how Yang had never forced her to do anything.

"Is it okay if I take a shower first?" asked Blake, quietly, as if she was in fear of a rebuke.

"You mean you didn't have one yesterday?" asked Yang, surprised.

"Well, I thought-"

"You thought wrong," said Yang, sighing slightly. "I remember specifically saying that you shouldn't have any reservations about using our shower."

Blake remembered that Yang had indeed said that. But Blake still didn't take one because she was scared of the consequences, even though the blonde had made it clear that there would be no consequences. She literally had never had a shower in her years as a slave, and she'd expected that to go on for a long time. She guessed that she still just wasn't used to the extra freedom that Yang had given her.

"Oh, sorry… So I'll just go and shower now?" asked Blake.

"Yup," said Yang with a nod. "I'll get your uniform and put it in the bathroom."

"Okay, thank you," said Blake politely.

"I won't peak, I promise," said Yang with a wink, before heading back downstairs.

Blake was in a little shock at the casual flirting, but cast it to the back of her mind, as having a shower was much higher up on her priority list.

* * *

Blake emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, feeling the cleanest that she had ever been. At first she had been a little tentative about using the girls' shower, afraid that she might knock something over or use too much shampoo, but eventually she found the courage to get under the hot water, and it almost felt like heaven to Blake. She wouldn't describe herself as being in a good mood, but she certainly wasn't in a bad mood. She guessed she had Yang to thank for that.

The uniform that she would have to wear was a little bit uncomfortable, but it was clean clothing, so Blake would take it.

The Faunus headed downstairs, and saw that Yang was all ready to go.

"You ready to go?" asked Yang with a smile.

"Yeah, but… I kind of don't have any shoes," said Blake, looking down at her feet, which were only covered by tattered socks.

She saw Yang's eyes widen. "Of course! How could I have forgotten?" The blonde smacked herself on the forehead. "I'm sure I can find you some shoes lying around somewhere."

The next five minutes consisted of Yang searching the entire house for a spare pair of shoes, while cursing and muttering under her breath.

Blake was slightly touched that Yang was going through all of this trouble just to find her some shoes. The cynical part of Blake was telling her that this was simply because she couldn't go to the coffee shop to help Yang without them, and that this was the only reason.

But deep down, Blake knew that it was also because Yang cared about her. She had no idea why she did, but she did, and Blake couldn't fault that. A few days ago, the idea of a human caring about her would have made Blake scoff, but so far, Yang had often shown caring tendencies, and the blonde had always tried to make Blake feel comfortable.

She quickly shook the thoughts from her head as Yang finally reappeared in the kitchen, with a weary grin on her face. She was holding a pair of unbranded black sneakers.

"These are gonna have to do," said Yang, holding them out to Blake.

"Thanks Yang," said Blake with a smile.

"Don't mention it, now let's get going!" said Yang cheerfully, before she realised that Blake hadn't even put her shoes on yet. "Oops, sorry!"

"It's okay," said the Faunus, suppressing an amused grin.

When Blake had managed to get her shoes on, the two of them made their way towards 'J &amp; P's' coffee shop.

* * *

Blake was slightly unnerved by the sight of so many people. She had long ago learnt to ignore the stares and whispers that were thrown her way when she walked down the street.

Yang had seemed to notice them too, and she had a slightly worried look on her face. Then, she smiled at Blake, which was what the Faunus assumed was an attempt to reassure her.

"It's alright Blake, just ignore them," said Yang quietly, and she slowed her pace down so that she was walking besides Blake.

Blake tried to smile back to Yang, appreciating her efforts to calm the Faunus down. Instead of focusing on the crowd around her, she looked down at the ground, focusing on her feet.

Soon enough, Blake and Yang had reached the coffee shop, and there was the tingle of a bell as they walked inside.

"Hey Jaune!" said Yang cheerfully, giving the blonde behind the counter a wave.

"Morning Yang," replied Jaune with a smile. "Is this Blake?"

"Sure is," said Yang, looking back at the dark haired girl.

"Nice to meet you Blake, and thanks for agreeing to come and help out today," said Jaune, giving Blake a smile.

"It's okay," said Blake, returning the smile.

So far, it didn't seem like Jaune was prejudiced against Faunus, but for all Blake knew, it could have been an act. Blake's cynicism kicked in again, and she mentally kicked herself.

"You're going to be working with the coffee machine today," said Jaune. "Pyrrha's just out in the back." He pointed towards a door marked with 'Staff Only'. "She'll tell you what to do."

Blake nodded, and she made her way towards the door. Before she did, Yang gave her a smile, as if to say that Blake was safe around Jaune and Pyrrha. Blake went through the door, and was greeted by a rather stunning redhead, who was rummaging around in a box.

Blake didn't say anything for fear of appearing rude, even though Yang had reassured her that Pyrrha was a good person. So instead, the Faunus just stood there awkwardly, until Pyrrha had finished her rummaging. As she turned around, she jumped slightly in shock, before recovering and giving Blake a grin.

"My, Blake, you certainly gave me a fright," she said. "How long had you been standing behind me?"

Blake had been unprepared for such a friendly greeting, but recovered quickly.

"Not long, I just thought you seemed busy so it was best not to disturb you."

Pyrrha flashed another grin at Blake. "Oh no, it's perfectly fine!" she said cheerfully.

The redhead walked past Blake. "Follow me!"

Blake obliged, and she walked back out of the door after Pyrrha. They walked over to the coffee machine, and Pyrrha spent the next ten minutes explaining how to work it, telling her what all the different buttons did, and how she could prevent herself from burning her hand on the nozzle.

Blake listened carefully, as she didn't want to mess anything up and leave a bad impression. Pyrrha seemed friendly enough, and like Yang, Jaune and Ruby, she didn't seem to mind the fact that Blake was a Faunus.

Blake knew that this comfort would be short lasted, because as soon as the customers came in, she was sure that she would receive many glares, and hear many pointed comments about how Faunus shouldn't have been working in public.

Blake practiced doing a simple espresso, and Pyrrha nodded approvingly as she set the cup down on a saucer, and put it down on the table.

"Good job Blake, you'll be a professional in no time," said Pyrrha with a grin.

"Thanks," said Blake, and she found herself smiling back, as Pyrrha's cheerful attitude was very much contagious.

Five minutes later, Jaune went up to the door and flipped the sign to 'Open'.

Within several minutes, two customers had already walked in and sat down at tables. Before long, one of them came up to order. Pyrrha took the guy's order, before relaying it over to Blake.

"Caffe Latte for table four please!"

Blake immediately set to work. She set down the cup under the nozzle of the machine, and pressed the button on the machine to pour out the coffee. She watched as it poured out the espresso, followed by the milk. As soon as that was done, she grabbed a saucer and a teaspoon, placed the cup down on the saucer with the teaspoon next to it, and set it down on the counter.

There, Yang was waiting, and she took the saucer and placed it down on a tray.

"Which table?" asked Yang.

"Table four," replied Blake. She saw that the customer who had ordered was looking at Blake, but as far as she could tell, there wasn't any malice behind the expression. After a few more seconds, he turned away, and that was that.

Blake had half expected the man to complain, or at least shoot a judging glance at her, but the man hadn't done so.

Blake was forced to stop thinking about it, as Pyrrha called out another order of a Caffe Latte.

Blake set back to work, although she was slightly confused. Wasn't that guy bothered that a Faunus was the one who had prepared his drink? The Faunus cast the thoughts to the back of her head, she didn't know why it was so important to her anyway, as this man obviously just wanted his coffee, and didn't care about who made it.

The guy that had just ordered now obviously was bothered though.

"Why is she pouring my drink?" he asked rather haughtily.

"Because that's her job sir," said Pyrrha, matter-of-factly.

"Can I not get someone normal to get my coffee ready?"

Blake could tell Pyrrha was losing her patience. She turned round to Blake and gave her an apologetic look.

"Jaune, could you get this person a Caffe Latte please?" called Pyrrha.

Jaune walked out of the store cupboard. "Of course." The blonde didn't look too happy about it though.

Blake had been slightly angry, but she had gotten used to all of the abuse and hatred by now, so she didn't pay any more attention to it.

The day went by, and half of the customers she served were seemingly not bothered by the fact that she was Faunus. Most of the other half had given looks of disdain, but not mentioned any, and there were only a few that were vocal enough to show their disgust at having their drinks prepared by, 'A filthy animal' as they called her.

Blake saw that these people had tested Yang, Jaune and Pyrrha's patience, and it touched Blake how these three cared about her and actually valued her. Jaune had even come to Blake several times to apologise about the behaviour of the customers.

Soon enough, the shift had come to an end, and Yang and Blake waved goodbye to the couple who owned the shop, and they began to head back home.

* * *

"Ruby, we're home!" called Yang, slamming the door shut behind her.

Yang's sister charged into the kitchen. "Yay! What's for dinner?"

"Always thinking about food Rubes," said Yang with a smirk.

"Well I'm hungry!"

Yang looked at Blake. "Do you want to make dinner again?"

"I wouldn't mind," said Blake with a smile. "What should I make?"

"Anything you want," said Yang with a grin. "I'm sure whatever you cook tastes great, so I don't mind."

Blake could feel her heart warming slightly at Yang's comment. It was nice to know that someone appreciated her. She'd needed reminding of that after her uncomfortable experience at the coffee shop.

"I don't mind either!" said Ruby, interjecting eagerly.

"I guess I'll work with whatever I find then," said Blake.

"Just give us a shout if you need any help!" called Yang as she walked through to the living room with Ruby.

When the sisters had left the room, Blake opened the fridge door to see what ingredients she could use.

She scanned the fridge, and to her delight, she found some tuna near the front. Blake hadn't had tuna since… Since that day she had been separated from her parents…

Blake shook the memories out of her head, not wanting to remember all her pain and suffering.

* * *

Half an hour later, Blake had cooked her tuna pasta bake, and she lay down the three plates on the table, before calling to Yang and Ruby that she had prepared dinner.

Within seconds, the two sisters had raced towards the dinner table, and sat down, hungrily staring at the tasty looking dish that Blake had prepared.

"That looks gorgeous Blake!" said Yang with a squeal, with Ruby nodding in agreement.

Blake felt a surge of pride rise up in her. Nobody had even thanked her for preparing a meal before, let alone compliment her on it.

"Thank you," said Blake, unable to stop beaming. It was the first time she had felt truly happy since what had felt like forever. And it was all thanks to two humans as well!

Blake felt even more joy when Ruby and Yang tucked into their meals eagerly, and gave Blake approving nods and thumbs up.

"This is so nice Blake!"

Blake sat down in her spot, and started eating too. Blake felt a rumbling in her chest as she tasted tuna for the first time in many years. It was only when she sensed Yang and Ruby staring at her funnily did she snap out of her bliss.

"Did you just purr?" asked Yang.

Blake's eyes widened. She tried to reply, but her mouth was unable to form any coherent words. Instead, she just looked down at her food, silently waiting for the sister's responses.

"That's so cute!"

Blake looked back up in surprise, and she found that Yang and Ruby had massive grins on their faces.

"What?" asked Blake, in shock.

"It's adorable!" said Ruby, giggling in delight.

"It didn't put you off?" asked Blake.

"Why would it put us off?!" asked Yang, still in a fit of giggles along with her sister.

"I don't know… It's just not exactly normal is it?" asked Blake.

_Even though nothing about me is exactly normal, is it?_

"Well yeah," conceded Yang. "But who cares?! It's still adorable!"

"Yeah, that's the important thing!" added Ruby, still unable to control her giggles.

Blake couldn't help but feel warmed again by the two sisters. It was not to. It was obvious that these two valued Blake as an actual person, and were able to look over what Blake thought might be negatives, and turn them into positives.

The rest of the meal was eaten relatively quietly, with still the occasional giggle from Ruby or Yang.

Afterwards, Blake offered to wash the dishes again.

"Okay, but join me and Ruby in the living room afterwards, alright?" asked Yang with a smile.

"Of course," said Blake, and she got to work on the dishes.

She was still slightly confused though. Yang and Ruby thought she was cute? That had been new, considering how almost every human she met had called her disgusting and a freak. Blake wasn't complaining of course.

She quickly finished drying the dishes, and then walked into the living room where Yang and Ruby were currently watching TV.

Yang looked around and smiled at Blake as she came in. The blonde shuffled closer to Ruby, and patted down on the sofa for Blake to sit next to her.

The dark haired Faunus obliged, sitting down next to Yang. The blonde smiled at her once again, and soon the three girls became absorbed in the TV show they were watching.

Ruby had dozed off halfway through, and Blake saw Yang watching Ruby with a smile. The brunette did look rather peaceful…

Yang then turned to Blake, with a slightly embarrassed look on her face.

"Uhh Blake?"

"Yes?" said Blake, ready to listen to what Yang was going to say.

"I know that this sounds really weird, but…" Yang closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Can I pet your ears?"

Blake stared at Yang. She had not been expecting that.

"It's just because you purred at the dinner table, and I thought it was really cute, and then I just felt like I wanted to pet your ears… Not because I want to treat you like a pet, it's just really cute, and I understand if you won't let me, and I hope you're not offended at all…"

Blake was in shock. Yang looked really apologetic, even though Blake hadn't even said anything yet. Her instinct would have been to say no immediately, but for some reason, she found herself hesitant to say it in front of Yang, and she had no idea why. So instead, Blake surprised even herself when she replied in the affirmative.

Yang's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah…" said Blake, a little hesitantly.

"Are you sure?" asked Yang, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm sure," said Blake, trying to sound nonchalant, but in fact she was very nervous, for reasons she wasn't quite sure about.

Yang appeared to be just as nervous, because the blonde slowly lifted her hand up, until they finally reached Blake's ears.

Blake couldn't believe that this was actually happening. She knew that she should have said no, she wasn't even that close to Yang, however nice the blonde was. By all rights, this shouldn't have been happening. Blake would normally never have let anyone pet her ears, but here she was allowing Yang of all people? (No offence to Yang of course).

The first touch was soft, unbelievably soft, just at the side of Blake's Faunus ears. It was more of a stroke, and Blake could tell that Yang was trying to be as gentle as possible, for fear of hurting Blake or bringing back any bad memories that the ears came with.

Yang began to scratch behind Blake's ears very gently, and Blake had to quickly compose herself when she felt a rumbling from her chest.

It just felt so nice. Blake's ears hadn't been handled this tenderly for a long time. Usually when someone came in contact with her Faunus ears, it was to pull at them, cut at them, or just generally to hurt them. This was very different though, and Blake couldn't stop the rumble from escaping her chest a second time, and flushed red when Yang let out another giggle.

"I don't get how anyone can hate these," said Yang, her grin quickly turning into a sad smile. "They're so nice and cute…"

The words were ringing with sadness. Blake was touched as she realised that Yang truly felt sorry for Blake.

Yang continued to pet Blake's ears, either stroking one at a time, or scratching softly behind them. It felt so nice that Blake decided she didn't care how long Yang continued. She didn't bother stopping the purrs escaping from her, as Yang obviously didn't think anything negative of them. She wasn't bothered about keeping her dignity either. (She was a slave, how less dignity can you have?)

She just let Yang giggle and pet all she wanted, because Blake decided then that she didn't care about anything. She didn't know whether it was because of the bliss she was feeling, but she didn't care.

Blake had thought that the rest of her life would be spent as a miserable slave, working all day with no thanks or gratitude shown from her owners. She thought that she would live in constant fear of… well, everything, whether she would get fed, or get beaten. Right now, she was still a slave, but she was surrounded by gratitude and happiness, and by two girls who didn't seem to care that Blake was a Faunus.

Blake smiled as she and Yang continued watching TV, with the blonde absent-mindedly playing with Blake's ears.

Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

**Alright, I'm not too sure if I've advanced Blake and Yang's 'relationship' too quickly or not. What do you guys think? **

**Also, concerning the next chapter, I've set it several weeks after Blake got taken in by Yang, and I'm not sure about it. Blake seems to be quite fond of the sisters at this point, but I'm just not sure whether it would feel rushed. I was thinking of writing a different chapter 4, and then moving this chapter to chapter 5.**

**Do you think I should do an additional chapter before it between showing the progression of the relationship slightly more, or do you guys just want to get to the Bumblebee quicker? ;) **

**Anyways, thanks for reading nonetheless, and I eagerly await all of your feedback and reviews on this chapter. **

**Until next time,**

**-PLG**


	4. Downhill

**I think that the majority of people have said that I should do another chapter before I upload what was originally going to be chapter four. So that is what I've done!**

**Some of my reviewers have said that things have been going on a little too smoothly, and that's because of two reasons. One, Blake isn't used to being treated so nicely, so that's why she doesn't know how to react to Yang petting her ears. Two, I wanted things to seem as if they are going smoothly, because the events I have planned for this chapter will prove that things are certainly not going as smoothly as people would have hoped.**

**Also, this may be the only chapter this week, as school starts again for me on Monday. (Yay…) I'll try and update as often as I can, but it's likely it will only be once a week, sorry. This chapter isn't as long as the others either. If I continue writing 4,000 word chapters, this will likely be the case, however, if you guys are happy with me writing shorter chapters, I may be able to update more frequently.**

* * *

Blake was confused. She was very confused. In fact, she was so confused; she didn't really even know what she was really confused about. She guessed it came down to two things.

Firstly, Blake had no idea why she had even allowed Yang to pet her ears. Sure, it felt nice, but by all means, Blake shouldn't have allowed the blonde anywhere near her ears. They were one of the main causes of all the pain and suffering, and even the slightest contact now would bring all of that pain and suffering back.

Yet, she had still allowed Yang to do it.

Secondly, she was confused at how nicely Yang and Ruby had treated her. All of Blake's life, she had only known hatred and abuse. She'd received so much of it, eventually, dealing with hate and pain seemed like the norm for her. Which was why when the sisters showed her such kindness, she often didn't react in a way that she normally would have done.

Blake was snapped out of her musing as she heard a certain blonde call her name.

"Blake! I'm going to work now!"

"Okay!" called Blake back.

It was a Saturday, and Blake had been tasked with making sure Ruby was safe, and that she was not eating too many cookies.

She heard the door slam, and immediately after, she heard a knock on her door.

"Blake?" Ruby's quiet voice came from the other side of the door.

Before Blake could even reply, the brunette had already barged into her room, and placed herself across from Blake on the bed. Blake blinked in surprise, and she couldn't help but feel slightly amused, as this was just such a Ruby thing to do.

"We're going shopping today!" exclaimed Ruby excitedly, raising her hands in the air.

Blake was a little shocked to say at the least, so she just sat there, staring blankly at Ruby.

"Uhh, Blake?"

Blake composed herself. "Oh, sorry… It was just a bit sudden…"

Ruby's eyes widened. "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to be so rude! I just tend to say stuff without really thinking, and I just thought that you'd like to go shopping, because you don't have that many clothes, and you need some shoes, and we can buy you some other things that you might like as well!"

Blake suppressed a smirk. In quite a few ways, Ruby was like Yang. Both girls were bubbly, bright and full of energy. Ruby just tended to go on a bit more than Yang.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Blake, raising an eyebrow.

"Yang said we could!" said Ruby.

"Did she?" asked Blake skeptically.

Ruby sighed and deflated. "No, not really… But she didn't say no either!" Ruby lit up again. "But you really need some new stuff, so I will take you out to get some!"

Blake wouldn't have minded. She welcomed the prospect of getting new clothes, but at the same time, she was scared to go out in public, scared of the abuse that she might get.

Blake hesitated, and Ruby seemed to catch on pretty quickly.

"Well, if you're really worried, I guess I can just go by myself…" Ruby offered. "But it's better if you're with me, so you can tell me exactly what you'd like."

On the one hand, Blake really wouldn't mind getting new clothes, but on the other hand, she wasn't sure if she was prepared to spend several hours surrounded by humans who'd probably want nothing more than to beat her to near death.

"Is it okay if I have some time to think about it?" asked Blake, looking at Ruby.

"Sure!" said Ruby quickly. "But if you can, can you decide in like half an hour? We probably need to set off quite early, if you decide to go."

"Of course," said Blake, and with that, Ruby walked out of the room, leaving Blake to weigh up the pros and cons.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Blake was definitely regretting her decision. Well, she more than regretted it. In fact, it was probably the worst choice that she had made in her entire life.

Even with her enhanced vision, she couldn't see Ruby in the crowd anywhere. The brunette had rushed off immediately when she saw a shop selling the latest 'Achieve Men' album, and had left Blake behind.

She had forced herself to blank out the insults that came her way, but it was becoming increasingly difficult, as the insults grew worse and worse, and much more frequent. It had been bearable while she was with Ruby, but now, without a familiar face around her, Blake was slowly beginning to crack.

"Dirty scum!"

"Animal!"

"What a freak!"

Blake flattened her ears against her head, but this did little to help as the noise still reached her human ears.

"You think doing that will hide what you are?" shouted a voice, louder than the rest. "The Faunus must be even stupider than we thought!"

There were several more jeers, and Blake had picked up the pace, hoping that she would be able to get out of this mob.

But it was only wishful thinking, the humans and their prejudice were everywhere, and there was no escape for Blake. She was trapped.

Nonetheless, Blake continued walking, looking down at the ground, too scared to even look up briefly.

She would have done anything to hear the soothing voice of her mother, or feel the warm embrace of her father. Despite them being long gone by now, Blake could still remember all of this vividly, and she often found it her only source of comfort. But not even that could reassure Blake now. Soon enough, she would not only be attacked with verbal abuse, but with physical abuse too.

And right on cue, the first object had been thrown at her. It whizzed over her head, but it still left a scratch on Blake's right Faunus ear.

She stifled a whimper and she kept on walking. She looked to her left along the ground, and saw that the object that had been thrown at her was a rock.

_Who keeps rocks inside a shopping mall?_

That thought was quickly forgotten, as she heard several other rocks whiz past her, but luckily, none of them hurt Blake.

The rocks had temporarily stopped, but that comfort was short lived, as she heard the same loud guy shout.

"Why is she even wandering around here without an owner? She's obviously escaped!"

Blake's eyes widened.

_No, no, no…_

"Get her!"

And with that, the mob descended on Blake. She broke into a run, but they were everywhere…

Blake had been seized almost immediately. Rough hands grabbed her arms and pinned them behind her back. She felt other people tugging at her ears like they wanted to rip them off. Blake cried out in pain.

She was being forcefully shoved from all directions. Blake closed her eyes, but this did nothing to stop the pain that she was experiencing.

"Maybe we should cut these off, and then she might actually be normal!"

Blake felt an extra hard tug on her Faunus ears, and she clenched her teeth in pain, and she couldn't stop a tear from leaking out of her eye.

She just wanted someone, anyone, to stop all this pain… All this torture…

A shiver ran down her spine as she felt the cold metal of a knife touch the base of her Faunus ear. She struggled and writhed around, but her arms were tightly bound behind her. This had happened before, and all the memories came flooding back to Blake.

* * *

"_Cut her ears off!"_

_Blake sobbed. She had stopped struggling by now, as she knew nothing could save her. Her arms were held behind her in a vice like grip, so escape seemed impossible. Maybe it would be better if they chopped her ears off. Maybe then she'd actually be normal… Or maybe they should just kill her. Surely being dead would be better than being abused for the rest of her life._

_She felt the knife press against her left Faunus ear, and she cried out as the knife left a shallow gash going up along her ear. There were cheers at this, and by now a torrent of tears were streaming down Blake's cheeks._

_She yelped again as a similar cut was made on her other ear._

"_Look at the pathetic little animal," said a voice, full of contempt._

_Blake felt the knife press up against her left ear again, and she cried out in agony as a slightly deeper gash was made going up in the opposite direction to her earlier wound._

"_Cry all you want, no-one's gonna save you now!"_

_Blake once again felt the blade lining up against her right ear, and she closed her eyes, awaiting the torturous pain that she would surely experience in a moment. But it never came. _

_Blake managed a glance up, and saw that both the knife wielder and the person who'd been holding on to her arms had disappeared._

_In fact, everything had disappeared…_

_Was she flying?_

_She saw that she was being carried by a blonde monkey Faunus, who had jumped up high to rescue Blake and escape from the mob._

_Unable to comprehend what had happened, Blake passed out._

* * *

When Blake woke up, she found a plate of food, but the Faunus that rescued her was nowhere in sight. That had been the second time she'd had to have been rescued.

And she really wished that there would be someone to rescue her right now…

* * *

**(And now, cliché time!...)**

Yang was on her lunch break, and she was walking around town. She was heading down to the local bakery, which did the _best _ever steak pies. As she made her way there, she saw a rather large crowd in front of her.

The blonde had seen this so many times. A random Faunus being beaten on the streets. The reasons varied often, and Yang had often felt terrible for not being able to help out.

But what could she do? The appalling treatment of Faunus was basically a social norm.

Of course, all of those thoughts went out of her head when she saw through a gap who exactly was getting beaten up.

* * *

Tears threatened to spill out of Blake's eyes as she felt the familiar feeling of sharp metal scraping against her ears. She couldn't help but let out a yell as the knife chipped a bit of flesh off her Faunus ears. It had happened a lot of times in her miserable life, but that didn't make it any less painful each time.

Blake felt hopelessness. She felt like she just wanted to die. Surely dying would be better than living in this hell.

But then she thought about Yang and Ruby… The latter had ditched her, although that hadn't been intended. But she still couldn't help feel as if it was Ruby's fault for leaving her. Then again, Blake shouldn't have even agreed to have gone out in the first place. She thought it would have been safe with Ruby, but she was wrong…

"What do you think you're doing?"

Blake was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard the familiar voice.

"Why the hell have you just taken my slave and started beating her?!"

Blake noticed a parting in the crowd, and she couldn't have been more pleased to see the one and only Yang Xiao Long burst through that parting, surely coming to rescue her.

One of her aggressors stuttered for a response, before finally speaking up.

"S-she was just wondering around, there was no indication that she belonged to anyone!" he quickly defended himself.

"Yeah, well she belongs to me, and only I can say who can do anything to her. And none of you are allowed to touch her, so I suggest you leave.

The crowd slowly dispersed with mutters and angry whispers.

If it wasn't for the circumstances, Blake would have laughed at how quickly the crowd had dispersed after that.

Blake could see that Yang was suppressing silent fury, and she was worried that part of it would be aimed at her.

But when the entire crowd had gone away, the fury was replaced by concern, and Blake found herself staring into caring lilac eyes.

"I'm not gonna be stupid and ask if you're okay.." said Yang softly, and Blake was relieved that the Blonde had _some _tact.

Blake was unable to speak though, as the whole shock of the ordeal was still wearing off.

"But what were you doing out here by yourself?" asked Yang.

"R-Ruby said we should g-go shopping f-for new clothes…" stuttered Blake, finding it hard to form coherent words.

Yang's face darkened slightly. "And where's Ruby now?"

"S-she got excited and r-ran off, leaving me behind…" said Blake quietly. She didn't like telling on Ruby, even though the brunette was partly to blame.

Yang sighed and buried her face in both her hands.

"I'm gonna have a long talk with Ruby when we get home…" said Yang, with another sigh. Then the blonde looked back at Blake. "Now let's get you home…"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Blake sat in the living room, with a very ashamed looking Ruby. Yang walked in and gave Blake a smile, before hardening her gaze when she looked at Ruby.

The busty blonde sat down and looked her sister in the eye.

"What were you thinking Ruby? Were you even aware of how much danger you put Blake in?"

The brunette looked down at the floor in shame. "I-I didn't mean to Yang, I just got really excited…" Then to both Yang and Blake's surprise, Ruby buried her face into her hands and started sobbing uncontrollably. "I would never hurt Blake on purpose!" She wailed.

Yang's expression softened as she watched her younger sister break down.

"I know you wouldn't Ruby, but you've got to understand what you did was very irresponsible…"

"I know," muttered Ruby, face still buried in her hands.

Blake absent-mindedly reached up to touch her ears softly, feeling at the bandages that Yang had wrapped around them when they had got home.

"I'm so sorry Blake…"

Blake's head snapped up and looked at Ruby, who was the one who had spoken.

"I understand if you hate me, I mean it was really stupid of me and everything to leave you alone… But I am really sorry, and I really hope you can forgive me, but I understand if you don't…"

Blake couldn't help but feel slightly warmed by Ruby's genuine apology. And although she wanted to accept it, Ruby had inadvertently left her behind to a lot of pain and suffering.

"I don't hate you Ruby… But I don't feel as if I can recover that easily…"

Ruby nodded and sniffed, wiping away a tear from her cheeks. "I'm really sorry…"

"I know you are Ruby…" said Blake with a sigh. Then she looked at Yang. "Is it okay if I go up to my room?"

The blonde quickly nodded. "Of course Blake!"

Blake got up from her seat and quickly walked upstairs, into her room, and then she shut the door.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Blake heard a knock at the door.

"Blake? It's me, Yang."

"Yes?"

"Is it alright if I come in?"

"Of course," said Blake quickly.

The blonde walked into the room, and plopped herself down on the edge of Blake's bed.

"How are you holding up?" asked Yang concernedly.

"Still in a bit of pain," said Blake. Her ears had stopped bleeding, but they were still slightly sore, whenever she tried to twitch them even slightly.

"Well, that's to be expected I guess…" said Yang, looking down at Blake's duvet. "What about mentally though?"

Blake thought that this was a slightly dumb question; of course she wouldn't be okay mentally. She never had been, not since she'd been enslaved.

"Well I'm still in a lot of pain mentally I guess…" said Blake. "I have been for most of my life…"

Yang nodded in understanding. "I know how it feels…"

Blake didn't know whether it was because of what had happened today, but she felt slightly offended, well, more than offended, by Yang's comments. Yang had no idea what torture she had been put through. Yang had no idea what it felt like to live in constant fear of her life.

"No you don't."

The blonde looked at Blake in surprise.

"What?"

"I said you don't know what it's like. You have no idea how much shit I've been through my entire life!" Blake couldn't stop after that.

"I've been beaten, had my ears cut more times that I've cared to count, and I've seen people of my own kind killed right in front of me! So you have no right to say that you know how I feel! Because you don't, you have no idea-"

"No, _you _have no idea!"

Blake stopped her rant and she flinched slightly as she saw something akin to fury on the blonde's face, as well as a considerable amount of hurt.

"Ruby's mom died when Ruby was _eight _years old!"

"My mom was killed when I was five years old!" retorted Blake hotly; too angry to care about what she was saying.

"That's not the point I'm trying to make!" shouted Yang. "After she'd died, I had to take care of Ruby when I was just thirteen! I couldn't have a normal childhood; I had to act as a mother to Ruby!"

"I've not had a normal childhood either, in case you had forgotten!" shouted Blake with equal force, her voice containing a loudness that she hadn't thought she was capable of.

"I've told you, that's _not _the point I'm trying to make!" yelled Yang, slamming a fist down onto Blake's bed.

"Then I found out that my real mother, who wasn't Ruby's, had left when I was just two years old! I had so many problems, yet I had to take care of Ruby and put up this happy front just for her, and I had no-one to talk to about my own problems! Then my dad got locked up in a mental asylum, and then I found that Ruby had started self-harming at eleven fucking years old!" Yang paused a little after her rant regaining her breath.

Blake stayed silent as she saw the blonde's eyes almost challenging her to speak.

Then the blonde continued. "It was really fucking difficult, and I felt as if I couldn't cope at all! I've had to put up this positive front ever since Summer died, and it's been killing me! Do you know how it feels, forcing yourself to be happy when your head is an absolute fucking mess?"

The blonde took another pause, and a tense silence followed.

"So Blake, I'm not trying to say my life has been more difficult than yours, I know yours has been far worse…" Yang's voice had softened now. "But I think it's completely unfair for you to say that I don't know what suffering is. Although it's not on the same level on you, believe me, I have suffered… So much…"

Blake felt her own anger subside, and her own expression softened. Yang was right. The blonde had only been trying to offer a little comfort to the cat Faunus. She hadn't been saying she'd known suffering as bad as Blake, but she was saying that she'd known suffering. The blonde was simply being kind, but Blake had thrown that back in her face, just like many other times in the past week.

"Yang-"

"Save it," said the blonde, interrupting her and getting up from Blake's bed. She made her way to Blake's door, but before she walked out, she looked back at Blake.

"I know you didn't know, I just need time to sort myself out… Goodnight…"

"Night," muttered Blake softly.

She pulled the covers over her, and she lay down on her left side. She quickly fell asleep, but she was slightly confused.

It was the first time that she had ever felt sorry for a (two) humans…

* * *

**Well… That was a thing and a half…**

**I know some people will say Blake accepted Yang's arguments too quickly, but remember Blake is a logical person, and is able to see sense.**

**Hopefully that gives Yang and Blake some more character development. I plan to do another chapter before moving onto the chapter which is set a few weeks later, so there'll be more character development, don't worry!**

**Now, I need to ask you guys one more question:**

**Should I have shorter chapters with more frequent updates?**

**Or should I have longer chapters with less frequent updates?**

**Until next time**

**-PLG**


	5. Reconciliation

**Hey guys!**

**Once again, thank you for all of your support, it's greatly appreciated. **

**I am so sorry I've not updated for a while, but exams have been a big problem, and on top of that I'm still dealing with my girlfriend breaking up with me… **

**Also, some people have mentioned to me that they'd seen a fic similar to this, but I can assure you that I have made many changes from that storyline. The only thing that is really the same is that it's a Bumblebee story. (I am not a crook). But still, if you wanna check that one out, it's called 'World of Strays' by 'Enderkiller77', it's part of the inspiration for me writing this fic actually!**

* * *

Yang walked quickly into her bedroom, slamming the door shut. The blonde slowly lay down on her bed, before letting tears flow freely down her cheeks.

If Ruby or any of her friends had seen Yang like this, they would have been greatly surprised that she was even capable of crying.

But of course, even Yang was capable of feeling pain. She was just better at hiding it than most people.

It got too much for her sometimes. She would constantly have to maintain her sunny demeanor when she was around others. But when she was by herself, she was prone to just completely breaking down. But whenever she was around Ruby, she made sure that she was cheerful. She had to stay strong for her sister.

Yang glanced up at the photo by her bedside, of her whole, well almost whole, family together. She wiped away some of the tears on her cheeks, before grabbing the photo so she could examine it better.

Ruby looked so carefree and happy. Of course, this was all before things had gone downhill. She smiled fondly, but that smile dropped when she looked at her father in the picture. She shuddered at the thought of what her father did when Ruby's mother had died. She cast those thoughts to the back of her head, and looked at the last person in the photo, other than herself.

Summer Rose…

She was definitely a cookie-baking extraordinaire, and the person that Ruby had looked up to most, ever.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a knock at the door.

"Yang?"

The blonde recognised the voice as Ruby's. Yang hastily wiped any remaining tears away from her eyes. When she was convinced that she looked composed, she replied.

"Yeah Rubes?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Yang lied.

"Can I come in?"

Yang sighed quietly. "Sure…"

The door creaked open, and Ruby was sat on Yang's bed in a flash.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Ruby asked concernedly.

"Yeah, of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" said Yang, trying to sound cheerful, but even she had to admit that she didn't sound convincing.

"It's just I kind of heard you and Blake arguing, and you seemed a little… not okay…"

Yang straightened up slightly. "How much of it did you hear?"

"Well… I kind of heard all of it…"

Yang opened her mouth to speak, but Ruby cut her off.

"But it's okay… You don't have to pretend that you're okay… You always comforted me when I was depressed, and you always put me first, and I really, really appreciate that…" Ruby smiled at Yang. "But it's alright if you need to be put first sometimes too… Everyone needs to cry sometimes…"

Tears started to well up in Yang's eyes. Since when had Ruby been so mature?

"And I don't care if you cry, because you've been such a good big sister to me, and I'll comfort you if you want to cry Yang… You don't have to stay strong for me all the time; because I already know how strong you are, and I'm so grateful to have a sister who loves me so much…"

Yang couldn't take it anymore, and she started to wail, holding Ruby in a tight hug. Ruby's words had really hit home. Her sister had just sounded so grown-up, it was quite un-Ruby like.

"It's okay Yang, let it all out…" Ruby soothed as she rubbed the blonde's back.

The roles had been reversed this time, instead of Ruby crying and Yang comforting her, Ruby was now comforting a bawling Yang.

Ruby sounded way older than thirteen at that moment. Yang thought she sounded a lot more mature than a thirteen year old had any right to be. Then again, Ruby hadn't exactly had the best childhood. She should never have been put through that pain and suffering, maybe then Ruby would have been more innocent, and more carefree…

Then again, Ruby wouldn't be here comforting Yang right now, which was what the blonde wanted most.

Yang cried and cried and cried. She was finally letting go of all the suffering and pain that she'd felt for the last few years.

As her tears became less and less, Yang felt as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. All she'd had to do was talk to someone and cry her eyes out, and all of that pain would have been gone.

The sisters stayed in the embrace, even long after Yang had stopped crying. No words were spoken, but the silence held a lot of meaning. Two girls, who had suffered for a lot of their lives, were dealing with their loss together, and that only served to strengthen the already incredible bond between them.

"I don't know what I'd do without you Rubes…" sniffed Yang.

"I love you Yang, thank you for being the best sister ever…" said Ruby, her voice slightly muffled by Yang's shoulder.

"I love you too Rubes…" said Yang, ruffling her younger sister's hair.

Ruby clung on slightly tighter to Yang, who didn't complain. Then after a short while, Ruby's grasp relaxed slightly, and Yang giggled as she realised that her sister had fallen asleep.

As she stood up and slowly lay Ruby down on her bed, Yang smiled. It was her first absolutely genuine smile in what had felt like forever.

* * *

The sun shone through Blake's windows, as the Faunus sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes to adjust them to the light which was invading her room.

She let out a yawn, and groggily looked towards the clock in her room. It was only eight o'clock. Yang never forced her to do any work until she was fully prepared anyway.

Yang…

Memories of last night's arguments came flooding back to Blake. Perhaps Yang could have been slightly more tactful, but then again Blake should have thought about Yang's arguments more carefully. No matter how Yang had put it, she was only saying it because she cared about Blake. But of course, Blake wasn't in the best of moods at the time, considering the day's previous events, so she thought that she did have a reason to react as she did.

Still, she had hurt Yang just as much as those humans had hurt her, and she still owed the blonde an apology.

With a sigh, Blake heaved herself out of bed, and headed down the stairs towards the kitchen, where she caught the scent of tuna. The Faunus rushed into the kitchen, and saw Yang frying some tuna, while Ruby sat at the table, playing a game on her scroll.

Ruby was the first to notice Blake, and she gave a quick smile to Blake, before turning her attention back to the scroll.

'_She probably thinks I'm still mad at her,' _thought Blake, internally sighing.

At that moment, Yang turned around, and flashed Blake a smile.

"Morning Blake!" she said cheerfully.

Blake was slightly surprised that Yang wasn't sounding a least a little down, and she didn't know whether she was genuinely cheerful, or whether she was just putting on an act of happiness.

Nonetheless, she sat down at the table. "Good morning," she replied.

As she did this, she noticed a slight frown on Ruby's face as the young girl was flicking through something on her scroll. This quickly disappeared as Yang turned round from where she was frying a tuna.

Yang set down three plates on the table, and then put some fried tuna on each plate. She placed an extra-large portion on Blake's plate with a wink, before turning around to fetch some orange juice from the fridge.

Blake blushed slightly, but the smell of tuna wafted into her nostrils, and she quickly forgot about it, and she hungrily tucked in. The three girls were eating their food, and although the atmosphere was slightly relaxed, there was obviously still some tension in the air.

Blake wanted to say sorry, but she found that she just couldn't find the right way to say it.

Soon enough, Yang had to leave for work again, and after saying a cheerful goodbye to Ruby, and a slightly awkward goodbye to Blake, she walked out of the door, slamming it shut behind her.

As soon as she had left, Ruby turned to face Blake, putting down her scroll.

"Something wrong?" asked Blake, looking curiously at Ruby.

"Yeah…" said Ruby, looking down at the table.

Blake stared at Ruby concernedly. "What's wrong?"

The brunette took a deep sigh, before speaking. "Well… I kind of got some texts from some of the boys in my class, and they were making fun of my scars that they saw…"

Blake's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry to hear that Ruby…" she said with genuine shock.

The scars that Ruby was referring to were probably the ones that she had obtained through self-harm. But for boys to mock her because of a pained childhood, that was bang out of order.

"Does Yang know?" asked Blake.

"No… And I don't want her to know, because she'll get really mad and break someone's arm, just like last time…"

Blake decided not to ask about 'last time'. Instead, she got up and sat down on the chair next to the young girl.

"They called me a freak," said Ruby, with sadness in her voice. "Are they right? Am I a freak?" Ruby looked at Blake, and there seemed to be a lot of hurt behind those silver eyes.

Blake had never really been in this situation before, so she hesitated at first, and Ruby seemed to misinterpret it, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Of course you're not!" said Blake quickly, not wishing to see Ruby cry, as that sight could truly be heart breaking. "You're just a girl who's had a difficult past… Those scars don't define who or what you are Ruby, the fact that you've stayed strong no matter how much you've suffered, that defines you. From what I've heard, you've been very brave and strong, and you should never forget that…"

There was a short silence after Blake spoke, and the cat Faunus wondered where she had managed to find those words.

Then Ruby spoke up. "Yeah, I guess you're right…" She beamed at Blake, and repeated the sentence more cheerfully. "Yeah, you're right! Thanks Blake!"

The brunette seemed much happier, and Blake was glad that she had said the right thing.

"That means me and you are similar…"

Blake looked at Ruby in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we both have scars, we've both suffered a lot…" Ruby looked down, and then back up quickly. "But of course yours has been worse, I'm not saying mine's been as bad as yours!" said the brunette hastily.

Blake didn't say anything, but she nodded at Ruby to continue.

"And we've both survived from our bad pasts, which means that we're both brave and strong!"

What Ruby had said was quite innocent, but it also held a lot of truth behind it. Blake had been abused and discriminated against almost all of her life, but she hadn't broken down. She'd stayed strong, and it seemed like it had all paid off. She was owned by two caring owners who had done nothing but make her feel welcome. Well, apart from leaving her behind in a shopping centre crowded with hateful humans.

Ruby's words had struck Blake somewhere deep down, and she found that she had tears spilling out of her eyes. Before she knew it, she found herself in a gentle embrace from Ruby. Blake couldn't do anything else but hold on to Ruby and lean into the hug as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

After a few minutes, Blake had stopped crying, and the two girls returned back to their seats.

"Are you feeling better Blake?" asked Ruby.

Blake nodded. It felt as if she'd had a massive weight lifted off her.

"That's good!" said Ruby cheerfully. "Well, I have to go and do some homework now, so just make yourself comfortable, and Yang said that there's some leftover tuna if you want to make tuna sandwiches for lunch or something."

Blake nodded once again, but as Ruby made her way out of the kitchen, she called after her.

"Hey Ruby?"

Said girl turned around to face Blake. "Yes Blake?"

"Thank you… For everything…"

"No problem Blake!" said Ruby cheerfully, and with that, the brunette charged up the stairs into her room.

Of course Blake couldn't see Ruby's face, but if she could have, she would have seen the widest grin ever… Of all time.

* * *

Several hours later, the sound of a door opening and closing signified the return of Yang to the household. In one hand, the blonde was carrying a bag that seemed to be full of clothes. She found an empty plate of cookies on the table, and set down the bag that she was carrying on the table, and with a small laugh she put the plate into the sink.

Then, she made her way to the living room, and once again found X-ray and Vav on the TV. Ruby was really addicted to that show…

She looked at the couch, and the sight in front of her was so cute she wanted to squeal.

Blake and Ruby were sitting on the sofa, and Ruby seemed to be asleep, but the brunette's head was _resting _on Blake's shoulder, and she also seemed to have snuggled close to the Faunus.

Yang coughed lightly, and smirked as Blake whirled round in shock, and that consequently woke Ruby up.

"Having fun are we?" asked Yang, a teasing glint in her eye.

Blake said nothing but blushed furiously.

'_She's really cute when she blushes,' _thought Yang.

Wait, where the hell did that come from?

"Yang!" began Ruby quickly. "We were watching TV, and then I got really, really tired, so I asked Blake if I could lean on her, because I thought it would be comfortable, and she said yes, and I did, and-"

"Ruby," said Yang with a laugh. "It's fine, I thought it was pretty cute to be honest."

Ruby blushed slightly. "Yaaaangg," she moaned.

Yang walked over to Ruby and ruffled the girl's hair. "I'm only teasing you silly…"

"I'm not silly!" huffed Ruby with a pout.

Yang giggled at the innocent exclamation. "Whatever you say Rubes," she teased. "Anyways," she said, before Ruby could retort. "I'm ordering pizza tonight, any particular toppings?"

"Ooh ooh!" said Ruby excitedly, her frown morphing into a grin. "Cookies!"

Yang sighed. "No Ruby, cookies are not a proper topping for a pizza…"

"Aww," said Ruby with a pout, as if she actually didn't know that cookies weren't a proper topping. "I'll just have margherita then…"

Yang looked at Blake, who had been watching the sister's conversation with a slightly amused look on her face. "What about you Blake?"

The Faunus looked as if she was thinking hard, before sheepishly speaking. "Uhh… I've never had a pizza before, so I don't know what toppings you can have…"

Yang gave Blake a sympathetic look. "Well, how about you just go for a margherita like Ruby, it's basically just cheese on the top, and tomato ketchup.

Blake seemed to consider this for a moment, before smiling. "Sure, sounds good."

"Great!" said Yang cheerfully, as she went into the kitchen to call up the nearest pizza place.

* * *

After the girls had stuffed themselves with pizza, Ruby had gone upstairs, leaving Yang and Blake in the living room. There was a comfortable silence in the air. Then Yang remembered that she had left the clothes she had bought for Blake in the kitchen.

The blonde quickly got up from the sofa and rushed to the kitchen, grabbing the bag. She went back into the living room and set the bag down in front of Blake, much to her surprise.

"What are these?" asked Blake, eyeing the bag curiously.

"Clothes for you!" said Yang cheerfully. "I hope you like them!"

Yang watched in anticipation for Blake's reaction. She watched as Blake took out the first item of clothing. It was a simple black V-neck sweater, and Yang beamed as a smile came onto Blake's face.

"T-thank you…"

"There's more Blake," said Yang with a laugh.

The Faunus set the sweater aside, and took out the next two pieces of clothing. One was a pair of black jeans, and the other was a Purple T-shirt with the Achieve Men logo on it.

"I hope you don't mind the logo," said Yang sheepishly.

"N-no… It's fine," said Blake, and to Yang's alarm, she saw tears starting to well up in the Faunus' eyes.

"What's wrong Blake?" asked Yang, shuffling closer to Blake.

"It's just... Nobody's ever done this for me before, and I've done absolutely nothing to deserve all of this… I got mad at you last night and I hurt you…"

"Blake…" said Yang, placing a hand on the dark-haired girl's shoulder. Blake looked back at Yang, her amber eyes meeting the blonde's lilac ones.

"You had every right to be mad last night… I should have been more tactful about it all… But you don't have to do anything to deserve this… I just want you to be happy, and you kinda need some new clothes anyways… And also, I don't hold anything against you about last night… Do you hold anything against me?"

"No, I guess not…" Blake's reply was quick, although a little uncertain, but Yang chose to ignore this.

"Then I guess everything's fine between us…" said Yang with a smile.

"Yeah…" said Blake, trying to return the smile but failing.

Yang felt a sudden urge to hug Blake, and she did so, much to the latter's surprise. At first it felt a little awkward, but it began to feel more relaxed as Blake returned the hug. Yang was slightly surprised about this. She had expected Blake to recoil away, or to not react.

It was then that she became aware that Blake was muttering something into her shoulder.

"Thank you Yang…"

"It's alright Blake…" Yang rubbed Blake's back soothingly.

The two girls stayed in comfortable silence. Once again, Yang was surprised at how Blake seemed so comfortable like this. She didn't really take Blake as a touchy kind of person.

But then again, maybe a hug was all that Blake needed. Just like Yang had needed comfort from Ruby, Blake needed comfort from someone too. And Yang was more than happy to do so.

As she felt Blake hold on slightly tighter to her, Yang smiled, softly tucking a loose strand of ebony hair behind Blake's ear. The Faunus didn't seem to object to this affectionate gesture, and Yang felt her smile widen slightly.

She could get used to this…

* * *

**I'm sure you're all glad that we've finally had a bumblebee moment! But damn Ruby, you got a hug from Blake before Yang, and you snuggled up next to Blake when Yang hasn't yet xD (Slayer)**

**I hope you caught the Rvb reference too!**

**Credit must go to Miruvin, who gave me the inspiration for the little moment that Ruby and Blake had. They gave me the idea of Ruby getting bullied for her scars, and that she goes to Blake instead of Yang, for fear of her blowing up a nightclub or something. So thank you very much!**

**Also, the bit with Ruby falling asleep on Blake's shoulder, I added that in because I remember someone saying that would be adorable in the reviews. (Shoutout to Huggler xD)**

**Alright the next planned chapter is set about a week after the events of this chapter; I've decided not to set the chapter several weeks after, as that seems a little too rushed, but I hope a week is reasonable. Oh yeah, also, did I mention that Weiss will be making an appearance next chapter? No? Well, yeah, she is.**

**Until next time**

**-PLG**


	6. 100 Follower Note!

**Hey guys! Sorry if you thought this was another chapter, but it has come to my attention that this story has reached 100 followers, and over 4500 views! I'd like to thank everyone for the support that they have given me and this story, it is very much appreciated, and I am overjoyed at how many people are enjoying this! I had no idea that this would be so popular!**

**As long as you guys keep reviewing and keep supporting this, I will continue to bring you new chapters as soon as I can.**

**However, this may not be very often I'm afraid. Schoolwork is an absolute pain in the behind, so I can't even promise chapters on a weekly basis... But please bear with me, I will be trying to write whenever I can!**

**But make sure you guys review with what you think of the story. It's good and all to have followers, but it's hard when you don't know what they want D: So yeah, please drop a review! Any things that I can improve with the story? I'm open to constructive criticism!**

**Anyways, thank you all so much once again, the support that you guys have given me is absolutely amazing.**

**You're all awesome and I love you all!**

**Until next time**

**-PLG**


	7. Schnee

**Guess who's back?! I am so, so sorry for not updating sooner, but exams really have been an absolute bummer. But hey, I have a new chapter right here, so be happy!**

**I think I might as well tell you here, but I'm afraid that White Rose will not exist in terms of being lovers. This is because Weiss will be the same age as Yang, which means that she will be several years older than Ruby. I'm NOT saying that White Rose will not exist at all, but it will exist more in the sense of Ruby finding another older sister basically. (So it will be super adorable, because older Weiss will get all flushed by young Ruby's insane cuteness!) I won't reveal what part Weiss has in this story yet though. You'll have to read the chapter to find out!**

**Without further ado: Chapter 6!**

* * *

Yang whistled cheerfully as she fumbled in her pockets for the keys to the house. Jaune and Pyrrha had allowed her to leave work early, as business was rather slow that day. She just couldn't wait to flop down onto the sofa and watch some television. The blonde unlocked the door, opened it and stepped through.

"Ruby, Blake, I'm back!" Yang called cheerfully, as she placed her keys down on the kitchen table.

When she got no reply, her smile dimmed slightly, as she made her way to the living room. Her smile came back at full stretch once she saw that Ruby and Blake had fallen asleep on the sofa watching TV again

"So adorable," said Yang softly to herself.

At that moment, Ruby's scroll buzzed, and Yang could see the message that she had been sent as the screen briefly lit up.

The smile was wiped off her face when she saw what had been sent to Ruby.

* * *

Blake jolted awake as she heard a rather loud angry shout. Ruby woke similarly, although she also let out a startled gasp as she did this.

The Faunus turned around and she saw Yang holding a scroll, an expression of pure fury on her face.

"Yang!" exclaimed Ruby. "What's wrong?"

Yang said nothing, but held up Ruby's scroll, screen facing her and Blake.

Blake felt anxious as Yang looked like she was going to crush the scroll any second.

Ruby's eyes widened and Blake's followed suit.

On the screen, was a picture of Ruby's scars, with the caption: 'Look at me I'm Ruby Rose and I self-harm because I'm pathetic and attention seeking!' The sender of the message was unknown.

"Uhh…" said Ruby, looking down at the floor, not meeting her sister's eyes.

"This isn't the first message either by the looks of it…" Yang's voice was relatively quiet, but Blake could tell that Yang could start shouting at any moment.

"I-" began Ruby, but she was quickly cut off.

"Why didn't you tell me? Do you not trust me?" Yang asked shakily.

There was both anger and pain in her eyes.

"Of course I trust you Yang…" muttered Ruby quietly. "It's just… the last time that someone bullied me; you went and broke their legs… And that didn't solve anything…"

"Okay, true... But we can't just do nothing either!" exclaimed Yang.

Ruby turned to Blake, a pleading look in her eyes. Blake sighed, before speaking up.

"On the one hand, you being bullied is a serious matter Ruby," said Blake, looking at the brunette, who nodded her head. "But I don't think violence is the answer… So I would suggest maybe getting Ruby a tutor or something…"

A short silence followed Blake's suggestion, which left the Faunus worried that she might have said the wrong thing.

"I mean, that probably sounds silly, but-"Blake began.

"No…" said Yang, cutting her off. Blake was relieved to see a smile on the blonde's face. "That's a good idea actually, there's someone who I know that can help us out, and it's just my luck that she actually owes me a favour…"

Yang then looked at Ruby. "Is that alright with you Rubes?"

"Yeah," said Ruby, nodding with a smile.

"Alright, it's sorted then!" said Yang, her anger seemingly dissipating. "Good job Blakey," she said with a giggle.

Blake fought off a slight blush at the affectionate name. It felt kind of… satisfying when Yang called her that.

She quickly shook the thoughts out of her head. She shouldn't have been thinking about such things.

* * *

"Hey Weiss, come on in!" said Yang, fully opening the door, and allowing a girl, who looked the same age as the blonde, inside the house. She had white hair, and clear blue eyes.

Blake was standing at the kitchen sink, washing some vegetables. She turned round and her eyes widened as she realised who this was.

_Weiss Schnee… _

The heiress to the biggest mining company in all of Remnant. The same company that enslaved Faunus and treated them like shit.

If Blake wasn't so shocked, she probably would have laughed at how ironic this all was.

"We're definitely even now, right?" asked the Schnee Mining Company heiress, narrowing her eyes at Yang.

"Yup!" said the blonde cheerfully.

Blake was curious as to what favour the Schnee would owe Yang, but she knew that it probably wasn't any of her business.

"Good," said Weiss, with a tight lipped smile. "So where is Ruby then?"

"Oh, she's just upstairs," said Yang. "She's a little scared because… Well, because she's Ruby," she added with a little giggle.

A smirk formed on Weiss' face, but it quickly faded, Blake noticed, as her gaze fell on the Faunus.

"Can you get your slave to prepare me some coffee?" the white haired girl asked bluntly.

Blake felt a jolt of indignation, but she reminded herself that not every human was like Yang and Ruby.

She could see that Yang was slightly uncomfortable with the current situation, as the blonde didn't react for several seconds.

"Earth to Yang," said Weiss with a frown, patronisingly waving a hand in front of Yang.

"Wuh? Oh sorry," said the blonde quietly. She looked towards Blake with a guilty expression on her face. "Blake, can you make some tea for Weiss please?"

The Faunus nodded, turning back to the kitchen, and she filled the kettle with water, ready to be boiled.

"It'll be done in five minutes," said Blake, not looking back at Yang or Weiss.

"Where are your manners?" Weiss snapped, and Blake turned around, eyes widened. "Don't you know to look at your superiors when speaking to them?"

Before Blake could reply or even react properly, Yang thankfully came to her rescue, grabbing Weiss by the hand and taking her out of the kitchen.

"Come on Weiss, I'll go and introduce you to Ruby!" she said quickly.

Blake turned back around to face the kitchen counter. Sure, she had been shocked at first, but that was only because Yang and Ruby had never spoken to her like that before. But what else would she expect from the heiress of the Schnee Mining Company?

Several minutes later, the kettle had boiled, and Blake had prepared Weiss' tea. She was half tempted to spit in it or something, but she decided against it. That would be a pathetic way of 'getting back' at the snob. Anyway, she doubted that Yang would approve either, if she were to tell the blonde her idea.

But even if she was going to spit in Weiss' cup, she wouldn't have told Yang about it anyway, so she had no idea where that thought had come from.

As she walked upstairs with the cup and saucer in hand, she saw Yang heading back down.

"Blake…" said Yang softly, just as the two were about to pass each other.

"Yang, if you're going to apologise on Weiss' behalf, don't," said Blake, looking at Yang directly in the eyes. "You've done nothing wrong…"

The blonde seemed like she was going to argue against it for a minute, but instead, she just nodded, and continued down the stairs.

Blake made her way up to Ruby's room, and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She opened her eyes again, and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" came Ruby's cheerful reply.

Blake opened the door, and saw that Ruby and Weiss were sat at the desk, with various books and pieces of paper lying around everywhere.

The brunette turned around from the desk, and smiled brightly at Blake. The Faunus was hesitant to smile back in the presence of the Schnee heiress, but she nonetheless gave Ruby a quick smile, before setting down the tea on the desk near Weiss.

"Your tea, miss," said Blake politely, her old instincts kicking in.

"You can go now,' said Weiss bluntly, waving her away. Rather rudely, Blake could have added.

But without a complaint, Blake exited the room.

* * *

It seemed that whenever things started looking up, something else always had to ruin it. Blake had to say that she had been certainly content with how things were currently going. She would never admit it to Yang, but the hug that she had received from the blonde was fresh in Blake's memory. Of course, the main reason for this was because she had secretly longed for someone, anybody, to show some affection towards her. And with Yang being the first to do so, the memory was still ever present.

But of course, Weiss Schnee of all people had to come in and start breaking the peace that was in the house.

Blake was currently chopping vegetables for dinner, but she paused as she sensed someone entering the room. The Faunus' enhanced sense of smell managed to pick up hints of lavender shampoo, which indicated it was Yang who had entered the room.

"Hey Blake…" said Yang.

"Yang…" said Blake quietly, thinking that she was trying to apologise again.

"I'm not here to apologise!" said Yang quickly. "But it is something that concerns Weiss…"

Blake said nothing, but turned around to face Yang. The blonde took this as a cue to continue.

"Look, you don't even have to pay any attention to what I'm saying, and if you disagree, then that's perfectly fine, but just hear me out, okay?"

Blake nodded, respecting Yang's wishes, although she really didn't see any more to Weiss than a racist, privileged bitch. She kept that to herself though.

"Alright… Things are kinda… Complicated with Weiss. I know she comes across as racist and everything, but that's honestly not the whole and true story, despite what it may seem…"

Blake said nothing, still processing the information.

"I mean, if she truly was the racist brat that she appears to be, I wouldn't exactly be friends with her, would I?" she said with a small laugh.

Blake had to concede that point was true, but she was still very skeptical about what Yang was saying about Weiss. She nodded for Yang to continue.

"I can't tell you all the details, not yet anyways," said Yang. "But I've known Weiss for a lot of years now… She's been through a lot, which is why she's like this today… But please, her story is far much more than just being the heiress to the Schnee Mining Company, so don't be too quick to judge…"

In all honesty, Blake had no reason to doubt Yang's words. Although hot tempered and not very serious at times, the blonde struck her as a very honest and trustworthy person. Yet, she could still not find it within her to believe Yang's words.

"Hasn't she already just judged me for my Faunus heritage though?' asked Blake with a frown.

Yang sighed and gave Blake a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I know… I know…"

There was a short silence before Yang spoke up again.

"There's no way that I condone how Weiss acts towards the Faunus, but she's…" Yang sighed. 'She's been through a lot… I don't expect you to react any differently to Weiss straight away, and I don't think she'll react any differently to the Faunus anytime soon… But just at least consider what I said… It's hard for me when Weiss is derogatory towards the Faunus as well you know?"

Blake frowned, and she noticed a hint of sadness in Yang's eyes, but she ignored it. She couldn't just make a judgement based on how Yang was feeling. It was her choice and her choice alone what she believed about Weiss.

"I'm sure I'll be able to put up with it…" said Blake, not looking directly into Yang's eyes, as the Faunus wasn't sure if this statement was true or not. She was almost immune to any insults or abuse from humans, but the fact that the heiress to the company that just so happened to be the biggest contributor to Faunus enslavement would be coming round every afternoon did not really sit well with her.

"I know you're not one hundred percent sure," said Yang.

_So she was perceptive as well._

"But," the blonde continued. "That's good enough for me…"

Blake nodded, and as Yang turned to make her way back out of the kitchen, the Faunus took this as a sign that the conversation had come to an end. Just as she was about to turn back around to finish chopping up the vegetables, the blonde spoke up again.

"Blake… We'll get through this. Okay?"

Blake's eyes widened in surprise at Yang's firm tone.

"If Weiss ever goes over the top, I'll make sure that she stops, alright? I'll promise you that Blake…"

Blake somehow knew that Yang would keep this promise, even if it meant going against her friend. That was when it struck her. Yang was willing to go against her friend, just so Blake, someone who she had not even met that long ago, a Faunus especially, would not have to bear the brunt of Weiss' derogatory remarks.

"You'd be willing to go against a human, a friend of yours, just to stand up for a Faunus slave?" asked Blake. She meant no ill intent behind the question, she was genuinely curious as to why Yang would go to such an extent.

"What, have you got a problem with that?" asked Yang with her signature smirk.

"N-no, of course not!" said Blake quickly. "I'm just curious, that's all…"

"Well," began Yang. "Firstly, I consider you to also be my friend. Ruby considers you a friend too by the way." Yang chuckled.

"Secondly, I'm not really standing up against my friend… I'm just standing up for what's right."

And with that, Yang headed out of the room.

Blake's Faunus ears perked up as she heard Yang whisper something, and she heard words that she was certain the blonde didn't want her to hear.

"Anyway, you're worth it…"

* * *

Blake was currently setting some carrots to boil for dinner, but Yang's words kept replaying over and over in her head.

Yang considered her a friend? And Ruby too? Sure, the sisters had been friendly to Blake, but it had never actually crossed her mind that they were friends.

The Faunus was not exactly quite sure what to think about this, but the fact that Yang did consider the two of them friends, made Blake feel happier.

And that other statement she made about standing up for what was right. Yang was correct in saying that. Perhaps in a way she would be going against her friend, but then again, the blonde was doing so with good reason. And that was to protect Blake against Weiss' judgmental, prejudiced words.

The heiress hadn't actually said anything too bad to Blake yet, but she had no doubt Weiss was definitely capable of doing so.

But Yang's last words were what was bothering Blake the most.

She had meant, presumably, that Blake was worth standing up for. Of course it was kind of flattering, but Blake was still confused.

She had no idea what the real intent was behind Yang's words. The fact that she had whispered it, not wanting Blake to hear probably, might have meant that she was embarrassed to say it out loud. Or it could have just been something that Yang thought of just after she'd left.

Whatever Yang had meant, Blake found that she was surprisingly content with the fact that Yang, a human, considered her worth protecting.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Immediately, she went over to the oven, and checked on how the lasagna was doing, in order to make it look like she was doing some work, for fear of suffering any reprimand from Weiss, even though the white-haired girl wasn't even her owner.

"Are you two all finished now?" asked Yang cheerfully, who had joined Weiss and Ruby at the bottom of the stairs.

"No Yang, we just thought that we'd come downstairs for no reason," came the reply from Weiss.

"Still snarky as ever I see…"

Blake turned around as Yang, Weiss and Ruby walked into the kitchen.

"Is Ruby doing okay so far then?" asked Yang.

"She still has a lot of work to do, although I understand that the circumstances are to blame rather than Ruby herself. But, she seems very eager to learn, so I have no worries at this stage.

Yang nodded with a smile. "Alright great!"

Blake noticed that Weiss was carrying the cup and saucer that she brought up to them earlier. She expected Weiss would issue a command to have Blake fetch the cup or something, but to the Faunus' surprise, the heiress placed the cup and saucer on the kitchen table, and made eye contact with Blake.

She was unsure as to what the heiress would do next, but was surprised, shocked even, that Weiss just simply nodded to Blake, before turning away and heading towards the front door.

Blake could only watch as Yang opened the door for Weiss. The white-haired girl walked outside and stood at the doorway.

"Thanks for coming Weiss!" said Yang cheerfully.

"It's not a problem Yang," came the reply.

Yang also stepped outside for a moment, to converse with Weiss further. Once again, this may have been something she didn't want Blake to hear, but the Faunus' enhanced hearing managed to pick up Yang's voice.

"-hard, but please, at least try…"

Blake couldn't pick up what Weiss replied with next, but she didn't strain to listen. This conversation likely wasn't any of her business. But seeing as Yang was closer to the door, she managed to pick up most of what the blonde said.

"Don't worry about it! I understand that it will take time, but you'll be coming round almost every day."

Again, there was a pause as Yang seemed to be waiting for Weiss to speak. Then Yang spoke up again.

"If you need anything, just ask alright, I'll try and support you through all this…"

Another pause.

"You can never really judge someone until you look at things from their point of view Weiss… Just remember that, and honestly, you'll find it a lot easier."

Up until that point, Blake had accepted that they could possibly be discussing Ruby's tutoring, but when Yang had spoken that line, she started to think maybe it was something to do with Weiss and her views of the Faunus instead.

But what difference would it make? Hateful opinions of the Faunus must surely have already been engraved into Weiss' head, and the heiress would be much too ignorant to ever challenge those views.

But it seemed that Weiss had put up little argument when Yang was talking to her, and Weiss also hadn't said or done anything derogatory towards Blake when she had come downstairs. Also, Yang had told her not to judge Weiss too quickly, as the girl had apparently been through a lot.

All of these things confused Blake a lot, but perhaps she was not fit to make a judgement on Weiss just yet. It seemed that Yang had asked both Blake and Weiss to consider things from the other's point of view, and Blake decided that she would honour Yang's wishes. But she was only doing this for Yang, not because she really wanted to sympathise with Weiss. After all, could she really sympathise with someone such as Weiss?

Then again, it was Weiss' father who was the one causing torment towards the Faunus, not the heiress herself.

Blake was most definitely puzzled. She had no idea what to think. The only thing that she was definitely sure of was that she needed a nap. Maybe that would clear her head and allow her to make a fair judgement on the situation.

"Hope that lasagne is ready Blake!"

She was snapped out of her thought by the cheerful voice of her owner.

"Yes, almost," she replied, recovering quickly.

"Good, cause I'm starving!" said the blonde, rather upbeat.

Blake allowed herself to smile. Right now, she would just forget about everything that had happened, and she would sit down and enjoy dinner with Ruby and Yang.

_Her friends._

* * *

**Did anyone catch the 'To Kill a Mockingbird' reference?**

**So hey, once again, I really apologise for how long it's taken me, but I've been having a bit of writer's block recently. I hope this chapter is to everyone's satisfaction.**

**Such a badass line from Yang before she walks out xD. **

**Anyways, I will be showing more Ruby and Weiss interaction in the next chapter, but this fic is bumblebee based, so White Rose will not written too often, but it will affect the story line quit a bit. **

**I'm sorry if you White Rose fans are disappointed in any way, but this is the way I planned the fic to go in the first place.**

**That brings me on to my next point. I have only planned in depth for the fic up to this chapter. I mean, I have a basic idea of how the story will progress, but I've not really done it in much detail. The reason for this, is that I thought this story wouldn't be that popular, but after seeing how so many of you liked it, I felt compelled to continue, but now that brings me to this point.**

** I've seen many examples of where writers write stories as they go along without much planning. These writers then lose interest and drop their stories, but there is no way I'll ever lose interest in this fic! Angsty Bumblebee is the best Bumblebee! **

**I'm really enjoying writing this fic, so in order to keep it going, if any of you guys have any suggestions on where to take this fic next, that would be awesome! I have a basic idea of what is going to happen, but I think advice on how I reach these ideas is needed.**

**So please PM me if you want to help. Not that I'm forcing any of you guys to do so!**

**Don't worry though, I definitely won't be giving up on this story!**

**Anyways, regular stuff, review with what you thought of the fic and all that jazz, and stay tuned for more!**

**Until next time!**


	8. Shocking Revelations

**I am still alive. I am not dead.**

**But seriously, I just want to tell you guys just how sorry I am for making you wait so long, but I've just had so much crap going on it's been hard to get back into writing. And I also apologise for the short chapter, but hey, it's better than nothing right? Am I right? *Dodges shoe***

**One more apology, there's not going to be much Bumblebee at all this chapter, so sorry for that. But I do feel it's important to get some Ruby and Weiss bonding in there too. I especially don't want Weiss to get under-developed, because she'll play a relatively important part in this fic, especially in her interactions with Blake.**

**Just a little background, let's just assume that Ruby and Weiss have been having their little study sessions for roughly a week now. **

* * *

Blake was just clearing away lunch when there was a knock on the door. She glanced at the clock, which read one o'clock. That meant that the person at the door was most likely Weiss, coming over to tutor Ruby again.

She then heard feet pounding down the stairs, and saw Ruby rush down into the kitchen and open the door.

"Hey Weiss!" said Ruby cheerfully.

"Hello Ruby," said Weiss as she stepped into the kitchen. The white haired girl was wearing a simple white blouse and light blue jeans.

Blake quickly turned back to clearing up the plates from the table, so that Weiss would not make a snarky comment about the Faunus not working, which she had done before.

Tension had been rather high in the household whenever Weiss was around. She often made pointed comments towards Blake whenever she did the slightest thing 'wrong', and Yang and Ruby were often just left awkwardly in the middle, not really wanting to side with either person in fear of starting a massive row.

Yang had told Blake to give Weiss a chance, but the cat Faunus really wasn't seeing any reason why she should.

She trusted Yang's words, but everyday Blake found that she was less and less willing to cope with Weiss, as there had not been any improvements at all in Weiss' behaviour towards her.

Blake was snapped out of her thoughts as Yang walked into the room, smiling cheerfully at her, and Blake smiled back genuinely.

Yang could never fail to cheer Blake up with the smile. It was just so infectious that Blake had to smile back.

And it would also have probably been rude not to smile back at the blonde anyway.

Said blonde then turned to Weiss and Ruby, who were about to make their way upstairs.

"Would you like anything Weiss?" she asked cheerfully.

"Just a cup of tea will be fine thanks," said the heiress politely.

"Alright, well, you guys have a fun study session!" said Yang, waving at Ruby and Weiss as they made their way upstairs.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Yang spoke up with a wry grin.

"Well, she didn't make any pointed comments this time at least…"

"A slight improvement," said Blake with a smirk.

"Yeah," said Yang, rubbing the back of her head. "Anyways, I have to go out for a bit, so I'll see you later! Don't miss me too much!"

"I won't," said Blake with a wry grin, waving as Yang made her way out of the door.

* * *

"So what you mean is you haven't done any of the questions I set for you yesterday?"

Weiss and Ruby were sitting in Ruby's room, several worksheets lying around on the desk.

"Well, I just didn't really understand any of it!" said Ruby quickly, not looking Weiss in the eye.

"So why didn't you call me to tell me this?" asked Weiss, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't want you to think badly of me or anything…" Ruby's voice got quieter, and she still refused to look at Weiss.

Weiss sighed. "You dolt. I'm not going to judge you just because you don't understand some questions. I'm meant to help you if you don't understand anything!"

"R-really?" Ruby asked, finally daring to meet Weiss' gaze.

"Of course not!" said Weiss. "Anyway, I don't even know you that well yet! I don't have the right to judge you yet."

"O-okay cool," said Ruby, a smile finally returning to her face.

"You are so childish for a thirteen-year-old I swear…" said Weiss, a smile ghosting on her lips.

"Am not!" said Ruby, pulling a face.

"That just proved my point."

"… Shut up…"

* * *

Soon, several hours had passed, and Ruby was getting close to the end of her study session with Weiss. As Ruby began to tidy up her notes, Weiss spoke up.

"Ruby… I know that you used to self-harm… And I don't mean to be intrusive or anything, but… are the scars still there?"

Ruby looked down, and Weiss began to worry. Would Ruby get upset or angry?

"Y-yeah… they're still there…"

Weiss sighed. "Do you mind… if I see the scars? I mean, we haven't known each other that long, and I completely understand if you-"

"You can see them."

Weiss was slightly shocked at the confidence behind the words. "A-are you sure?"

"Well, you're friends with Yang, and Yang wouldn't make friends with bad people, so if Yang trusts you I trust you. Even though I don't know you that well."

And with that, Ruby lifted up her right sleeve revealing five long cuts down her arm to Weiss.

Rage boiled inside Weiss. How could she have gotten bullied for this?

"Disgusting…" she muttered.

Then, seeing the tears starting to form in Ruby's eyes, the Heiress' eyes widened, realizing that the redhead had taken what she said the wrong way.

"No Ruby! What I meant was that you getting bullied for the scars was disgusting, not the scars…"

"Ohh… Right…"

Weiss sighed.

"Ruby… I'm going to reveal something very… personal to me."

Ruby's eyes widened in confusion at Weiss' statement. "But why? I've only known you for like, a week. It seems a little too sudden..."

Weiss didn't reply, instead only lifting up the left sleeve of her blouse, revealing her own set of cuts down her arm, the red contrasting with the pale white of her skin.

"I want you to know... That you're not alone... There are others who have suffered as you have, and you shouldn't feel... inferior just because of some stupid cuts on your arms..."

Ruby stared at the cuts running down Weiss's arm, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

The white haired girl scoffed lightly, noticing Ruby's surprised expression. "Yes, I know... Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the Schnee Mining Company, used to self-harm..."

"Wow... I just... can't believe that..." said Ruby, her voice devoid of any of the childishness that was normally there.

"You're probably thinking why I decided to self-harm right? Being the heiress to one of the most well-known companies on Earth, I shouldn't have any hardships… Right?"

Ruby flinched at the bitter laugh which followed this.

"I don't think that…" said the redhead quietly. "No matter what our social standing, in the end, we're all just people… We all experience the same emotions… sadness, happiness, anger, loneliness, regardless of whether we're human or Faunus… But people are sometimes just too blind to see it."

Weiss sighed as she let Ruby's words sink in. If she was honest, she never would have thought Ruby, normally so childish, would be capable of saying something so… mature. Then again, she knew that Ruby had suffered more in thirteen years than many people did in their entire lifetimes. And she was quite sure that Ruby's last sentence was aimed at her.

"But Weiss… Thanks for showing me those scars… Thanks for showing me you care. I appreciate it."

Weiss nodded, before grasping Ruby's hand in her own, and looking the redhead directly in the eye. "Ruby… you've suffered so much, and you've not deserved any of it one bit. But you've survived all the way through the pain, and frankly, that just shows that you're strong, Ruby Rose… Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Okay?"

"O-okay," muttered Ruby quietly.

"Good," said Weiss, a small smile gracing her features, before glancing at the clock. "Well, unfortunately, it looks like it's time for me to go…"

Weiss could swear that her heart almost broke as Ruby's eyes widened, and tears threatened to spill out of them. Before she could do or say anything, she felt small arms wrap around her waist, and she was mildly surprised to see Ruby holding onto her for dear life, sobbing against her. The redhead's tears were staining Weiss' blouse, but the heiress couldn't care less at that moment, as she gently wrapped her own arms around Ruby.

"Th-Thank you so much Weiss…" Ruby cried, her words slightly muffled as her face was buried in Weiss' chest. "I really needed to hear that… And I just… Just thank you. You have no idea how much those words meant to me.

Weiss realised that she herself had gotten close to tears, and she rapidly blinked in order to keep them from spilling. "It's okay Ruby… It's okay…" The white haired girl gently rubbed circles on Ruby's back.

* * *

For the next few minutes, the two girls just stayed as they were in comfortable silence, only interrupted by occasional sniffles from Ruby. (And maybe one from Weiss herself). Ruby felt a soothing calm wash over her as she listened to the rhythmic beating of Weiss' heart. In the back of her mind, she was wondering what could possibly have led Weiss to self-harm. She was always so composed, sophisticated and well... perfect. It was surprising to know that she was just as mentally broken as Ruby was. But now was not the time to ask Weiss about it. For now, Ruby was just content to relax in Weiss' embrace.

Eventually, the two separated and they gave each other one last smile, before Weiss picked up her things and walked out of the door, followed quickly by Ruby.

* * *

When the red and white duo made their way downstairs, it just so happened that Yang had also returned at the exact same time. (What a coincidence).

"Yang!" exclaimed Ruby cheerfully as she rushed to give her sister a hug.

"Hey Rubes," grinned Yang, ruffling her little's sister's hair. "Did you guys have a good study session?"

"Yeah!" chirped Ruby cheerfully.

"We managed to get quite a lot of stuff done today," said Weiss, suppressing a grin as Ruby looked at her knowingly.

"Glad to hear it!" said Yang. "Anyways, on my way back I stopped by the bakery to buy some chocolate chip cookies. Do you want to stay for a bit Weiss?"

"Sure, I don't see why not," said the heiress with a small shrug. She was in a good mood, and it wouldn't hurt to have a friendly conversation.

"Awesome! Just take a seat while I grab a plate," said Yang, placing the cookies down on the kitchen table, and reaching into the cupboard for a plate.

Weiss sat down next to Ruby, who was already fidgeting restlessly in her seat, impatiently waiting for the cookies.

"Blake!" called Yang. "Come into the kitchen and eat some cookies with us!"

Weiss stiffened slightly as said Faunus entered the room. It was true that Weiss and Blake weren't really that keen on each other, so it would make conversation at the table rather awkward.

Soon enough, all four girls were seated at the table and were tucking into their cookies. Weiss smiled slightly as she watched Ruby and Yang talk about something ridiculous, and it was heartening to see just how close the two sisters were.

They didn't deserve what had happened to them at all. Both of them were just so kind and loving, it was just simply unfair that they had to go through so much heartbreak and pain.

But her earlier discussion with Ruby had made her mind drift slowly towards their Faunus 'slave', although she seemed almost like a member of Ruby and Yang's family rather than a slave.

Weiss wasn't blind. She knew that the Faunus were suffering. She knew that the conditions down in the Schnee mines were atrocious and that her family's company were responsible for the suffering of those Faunus forced to work there. Even though the Faunus had been enslaved and treated like crap because of a failed uprising, that was only because humans were discriminating against them in the first place. By all logic, she should not be treating Blake and the Faunus in general like they were lesser beings.

But Weiss' heart told her that the Faunus were all vile beasts, abnormal freaks and scum. They had taken away so much from Weiss, they had robbed her of her childhood, her innocence and her family. And now that she'd had that mentality for so long, she just found it easier to believe her heart, even though deep down she knew that her disdain towards the Faunus was simply because of the actions of a very select few.

Yang and Ruby were obviously very fond of Blake. And the Faunus seemed to be just as fond of them, but Weiss just couldn't bring herself to be nice to Blake, as she just couldn't let go of the grudge she held against the Faunus. It was easier to believe something that you had believed for a very long time, rather than coming to accept that maybe what you believed all this time might not actually be right.

Still, she couldn't get rid of the nagging voice in the back of her head.

'_Can't let go? Or won't let go?'_

* * *

**Now, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, it just feels kind of meh... :/**

**With that being said, I'm just going to attribute it to the fact that I've not been writing for about eight months, and hopefully, I should be able to get back into the groove of writing, because you can expect to see more frequent updates from me now!**

**And I am aware that it was implied Weiss was about to tell Ruby about her own scars, but that will be answered in the next chapter.**

**Again, thanks for being patient with me!**

**Until next time(Hopefully, it won't be as long as last time)**

**-PLG**


	9. This Fire is Out of Control

**Well… Hello there... I'm sorry for the delay. **

**As some of you may be aware, I've been writing for the Freelancer Collaboration, (I write for North Dakota), and then I had exams and I've only just gotten my inspiration to write back. The Freelancer Collab fic is called 'Phase II: Betrayal', so if you're a fan of RvB, please check that out.**

**I also apologise that this chapter isn't very long, I just need some time to get back into the groove of writing. But don't worry; I'm just posting this short chapter so you know that I haven't given up on this story yet!**

**Also, the Freelancer Collab fic is called 'Phase II: Betrayal', so if you're a fan of RvB, please check that out if you haven't already.**

* * *

Yang shot up from her bed, a loud booming sound being more than enough to startle her from her sleep.

"What… the hell was that?" Yang grumbled to herself as she groggily got out of bed.

The blonde tried to wipe some of the sleep out of her eyes as she made her way towards the window. It was still dark outside, but that was hardly of any concern to Yang. What was of her concern was the fact that there seemed to be a raging inferno in the near distance.

Any drowsiness that Yang had previously been experiencing disappeared almost instantly.

"Holy… Shit…"

Without any further words, the blonde rushed out of her room with her jacket in her hands. As she made her way down the stairs, she heard a small voice call from above her. She looked up and she saw Ruby looking down worriedly at her.

"Yang? What's the matter?"

The blonde tried her best to give her little sister a reassuring smile. "Well… There's been an explosion downtown, and now a fire's broken out… I'm going to check it out now."

Ruby's eyes widened at the news, and she quickly ran down the stairs so that she was standing next to Yang. "But what if there's another explosion and you get hurt?"

"I'll be fine, Rubes, I promise," said Yang, giving Ruby a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.

"Pinky promise?" asked Ruby.

Despite the situation, Yang chuckled. "Ruby, you're not nine years old anymore."

"Pinky promise!" Ruby demanded this time, holding out her right little finger in front of Yang with a determined look on her face.

"Okay, okay," laughed Yang, hooking her pinky around Ruby's. "I pinky promise."

Satisfied, Ruby nodded, and she started to make her way back upstairs. "Be safe Yang…"

"I will sis, don't you worry," said Yang, giving her sister one last wave before heading out of the house.

It took her a considerable amount of time to reach the source of the fire, even as she sprinted at full pelt. As she approached the burning buildings, Yang had to cover her nose as the smell of acrid smoke hung in the air. Firemen were trying their best to fight the fire, but flames and smoke continued to billow out of the buildings. One of which looked especially familiar…

Concern was etched on Yang's expression as she sprinted towards Jaune and Pyrrha's Café. The area around it had been cordoned off, but she could still make out the kneeling figure of her red-haired friend. However, Yang noticed a worrying lack of Jaune with her.

"Pyrrha!"

Yang's concern morphed into alarm as Pyrrha turned to face her, noticing the tears streaming down her friend's face. The blonde kneeled down next to the redhead, ignoring the sound of all the commotion around them, who stayed silent, placing an arm on her shoulder.

"Pyrrha," said Yang gently, as she noticed the glazed, unfocused look in her friend's eyes. She shook Pyrrha's shoulder gently, trying to get her attention.

"Y-Yang?"

"Yeah, it's me," said Yang quietly, Pyrrha's hoarse voice more than enough the confirm Yang's suspicions that something bad had happened to Jaune.

"J-Jaune… H-he…"

Yang's heart clenched as Pyrrha struggled to get words out of her mouth. "Take your time hun," said Yang sympathetically, now wrapping her arms around Pyrrha's sobbing form.

"H-he's alive… But h-he…" Pyrrha couldn't continue as she cried into Yang's shoulder, sobs racking through her body.

Yang felt slightly relieved that Jaune was still alive, but the fact that Pyrrha was still breaking down, and that Jaune was not present, meant that something bad must still have happened. Seeing as Pyrrha didn't look in any state to continue talking at the moment, Yang released her friend from the hug, and slowly stood up, before holding her hand out.

"We can't have you staying out here all night Pyrr," said Yang softly, as Pyrrha glanced at the blonde's outstretched hand. "You can stay at our house for now, and maybe once you've calmed down you could tell us exactly what happened?"

There was a moment's silence between the two, which allowed Yang to focus her hearing on the background noise; sirens were blaring loudly, and Firemen were shouting as they tried to bring the flames under control. Her attention then focused back on Pyrrha as she felt a grip on her hands.

Doing her best to give a reassuring smile, Yang gently pulled up Pyrrha, who wobbled a little as she stood up, but was quickly able to stand unaided. Then, the two women slowly made their way back to Yang's house in tense silence, with Yang's concerned gaze concentrated on Pyrrha the whole time.

If Yang had been looking elsewhere, she would have seen a red logo on the wall, detailing a fierce looking catlike creature with claw marks behind it.

* * *

**I honestly had no idea what the animal on **_**that**_** logo is, but if it were up to me to decide, it would definitely be a puma xD. Anyways, expect another update within the next week, which should hopefully be longer, and will deal with the aftermath of this event.**

**Until next time (Hopefully, it won't be eight months),**

**PLG**


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